Mayonnaise and butter - Staples in my kitchen - I use them all the time. On the Whole30 program regular butter and commercial, chemical-laden, soybean-oil-based mayonnaise are both out. So I made the mayonnaise recipe which I posted yesterday. I am happy to report that it worked just as the recipe said it would. It was a very quick and easy process using an immersion blender, which I just happen to have. If you're not sure what an immersion blender is, see an example here:
https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CSB-75BC-Blender-Brushed-Chrome/dp/B00ARQVM5O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485998242&sr=8-1&keywords=immersion+blender+stainless+steel
I have made mayo before in a blender where you stream the oil into the other ingredients v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y while the blender is running. I may revisit that method at some point. It works well, but does take longer. Although I used the "light" olive oil for this recipe as suggested, the final product still had a slight olive oil taste; not what I'm used to (or want) in a mayonnaise. After tasting, I stirred in a little extra salt, some pepper, and an extra tsp. of lemon juice This is definitely a recipe you can play around with to suit your own taste depending on your use for it. Next time, I will try making it with avocado oil which has a more neutral flavor, and instead of lemon juice, I'll use vinegar - or some of each.
Feeling confident from mayo success, I decided to make a batch of clarified butter. I bought some ghee (a gourmet name for clarified butter) at the grocery store for the gourmet price of $7.99 for a 16 oz. jar. I'm not going to do that very often! I made my own for a third of the cost. The process was very simple:
Take a lb. of butter, cube it up, and place it in a medium size sauce pan. Turn the heat on medium low and let it sit undisturbed until a thick white foam covers the surface. Using a spoon, carefully skim the foam and throw it away. Finally, strain the clarified butter through a cheesecloth lined strainer to catch any remaining milk solids. Store it in a jar in the fridge. That's all there is to it. Easy-peasy, as my grandchildren would say!
Here is what my clarified butter and mayo looked like after I finished:
I bet you can guess which is which!
And while I'm sharing photos...I might as well share the chicken chili soup I made for my dinner tonight:
I was hungry for chicken chili but no beans are allowed on Whole30...so I substituted a package of spinach. Wow - delicious and comforting on this cold February day! Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it. Enjoy!
Nice job! I will definitely have to try making ghee. Do you really need the cheesecloth? Your chili looks good too!
ReplyDeleteThe cheesecloth really does help get the last tiny bits of milk solids out...if you don't want to invest in a package of cheesecloth (Meijer had it and it's only a couple bucks for a bunch) maybe a clean, old piece of panty hose would work! :-)
DeleteHigh five! Your soup looks good! I don't like olive oil in my mayo either.
ReplyDeleteI made mayo again recently using avacado oil instead of the light olive oil. I liked it MUCH better. Here's the recipe I used: http://www.paleoscaleo.com/five-minute-mayo/
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