Best Garlic-Basil Mayonnaise Ever!!

I've had limited success making mayo so far.  First, I bought the wrong type of olive oil, then I tried adding bacon grease--but forgot to strain it and wasn't so fond of the greasy baconny flavour in there.  I found that homemade mayo was not really as thick as the commercial stuff, and has been somewhat bland tasting.  But pre-paleo, I actually preferred Miracle Whip over mayo any day; I loved the tang of it.  I've tried adding more white vinegar to my homemade mayo, a bit of honey, a bit of stevia powder, all to no avail.  I've tried it with mustard powder, then tried with prepared mustard.  Tried white vinegar, tried balsamic, and tried apple-cider vinegar (which is the best one if you liked the tang of Miracle Whip, too)  And then today, it all just clicked in my head.  Presto perfect--this is THE ONE!!

First things first--you really do have to buy the Extra-light tasting olive oil.  Not the same as extra virgin, and not the same as ordinary olive oil.  Here's the only brand my grocer carries, so that's what I used this time.  What a difference this makes.

Next, I learned something important with my experimenting with bacon fat, trying to make baconnaise--because this type of fat is solid in the fridge, melting, straining and then whipping some of it into your mayo results in a thicker mayo once it has sat in the fridge.  It does impart a slightly baconny flavour.  But if bacon fat can thicken mayo, why can't coconut oil?  So I tried it that way this time.  I use virgin, organic coconut oil, which has zero flavour whatsoever, so it didn't leave any added taste in the mayo but all the thickness I wanted.  This was a good thing!

Discovering apple cider vinegar was a very good thing.  White vinegar just adds a vinegar taste, or sour taste, but apple cider makes it tangy!

And lastly, I came upon a recipe for garlic-basil mayo.  Now, I changed a few things--ok, several things.  But the thought of garlic and basil stuck with me.  Instead of fresh garlic, which has the potential to go rancid fairly quickly, I used dried granular garlic and dried basil.  Wow, what a flavour burst.  So here's the recipe:

• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1 cup extra-light tasting olive oil
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp dried, granulated garlic
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp salt

Let your egg sit out on the counter for about an hour to come to room temperature.  If you only let it sit out for a half hour, don't sweat it, it'll be fine.  In a food processor, add all ingredients except olive oil and coconut oil.  Blend ingredients for a minute.  Measure out the olive oil and melt the coconut oil.

Leaving the blender on and the feeder open, slowly drizzle the olive oil in.  Pour so slowly that the stream of oil begins to break up and is barely dripping in.  It's going to take 3-4 minutes of drizzling to get it all in there.  Watch your mayo turn white in the process.  Once all the olive oil is in there, pour in the coconut oil and continue to mix for another minute just until mixed thoroughly.

Taste it.  It's already delicious, isn't it?  Now, understand that it will thicken, and the flavours will all mingle and it'll taste even beter in a couple of hours!

Carefully scrape your mayo into a clean empty jar and chill in the fridge.  I've found mayo stays good for about 2 weeks in the fridge, but begins to seperate after that and that kinda scares me.  So lets say it's only good for about 2 weeks, ok?  It's amazing how many things you'll find that you'll now put mayo in/on so this stuff will disappear pretty quickly at first!!

Voila!

I'm already trying to think up ways to eat this stuff for lunch....