Thursday, March 20, 2008

Look Out Martha

The other day, while Luke was napping in the a.m. I leafed through my latest issue of Bon Appetite. I love it. It's not as haughty as Gourmet, but has great recipes and articles. It's funny - I used to drool over "In Style" and "Lucky" but now I love reading food magazines.

But I digress.....I came across an article about homemade mayonnaise and how wonderful it is, etc. And I had taken out some chicken breasts, not knowing what I'd do with them. So I decided to try my hand at homemade mayonnaise and poaching chicken breasts (which I had also never done).
I've always kind of liked mayonnaise. I loved it on sandwiches as a kid and considered it a luxury as an adult trying to watch what I eat. When I was small, my dad would be making his lunch in the mornings before heading off to work and would make me a tiny mayonnaise sandwich on seedless rye bread that I would enjoy while tuned into a.m. cartoons. But as I aged and learned how mayonnaise wasn't the best thing for you, I turned to mustard to dress up my sandwiches.

So I wondered if homemade mayonnaise could re-ignite my mayo love. And I was challenged by it too - I mean, who makes homemade mayonnaise when you can just grab it out of the fridge? AND...I was inspired by the beginnings of the new season of "Top Chef". Love it. Love it. They make all sorts of nifty stuff off the tops of their heads - no recipes, no sous-chefs, no help.

It took me 2 tries to get it right (it's a little dance between whisking constantly and sloooowwwwllly adding oil) but it was this heavenly, whipped, rich concoction that distantly resembled the stuff in the jar with the blue lid.

That being done, I poached 2 chicken breasts (a new technique for me), chopped them roughly and added them to the mayonnaise. Then slathered that on some toasted rolls, added sliced avocado and voila! A delicious, warm chicken salad sandwich.


Oh mayo. You've been gone for too long.

5 comments:

Mouthy Girl said...

I love cooking.
I love cooking magazines as well as cookbooks.
I love Top Chef.

I loathe mayo.
Can't stomach it.
Hate the texture and smell.

I'm sick in the head because I adore eggs and oil. What's not to love, right?

You officially get my lifetime allotment of mayo, sister!

Maureen said...

Oh my... you are making me drool now.

Must.Get.Food.

But I love homemade mayo... its a breeze using a Cuisinart; although I haven't made any in a long time.

Curly Glamour Girlie said...

BG - I'll have to start blogging Thursdays about TC episodes. So far, I like these cheftestants, but many of them seem to be trying to be carbon copies of last season's crop. And that's okay about the mayo - I can't stand jelly.

Maureen- I did it the old-fashioned way - by hand with a whisk. I don't have a Cuisinart, just a mini-chopper. I lusted after a deLonghi food processor I demoed while at Williams-Sonoma eons ago, but alas never bought it.

Maddie said...

I've never been a mayo girl but I applaud your enthusiastic effort!

Curly Glamour Girlie said...

Pants - I'm really not either, but after reading the article about it, I had to try it - it was delicious!