Emulsion sauces are made by distributing oil or butter in a different kind of liquid, and the sauces often contain egg yolks, which stabilize the mixture. Making emulsion sauces may be quite a challenge compared to making other sauces, as the components may separate easily, especially if oil is added too fast to the mixture, or if the ingredients used are not at room temperature.
More robust, aromatic oils should be mixed in half and half ratio with neutral-tasting oils such as sunflower or peanut oil. Homemade mayonnaise may be stored in the fridge for three days if well covered.
Ingredients for 300 mL mayonnaise
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1–2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
- 200 mL olive oil
- salt and pepper
Preparation
Add the egg yolks, the mustard, 1 tablespoon vinegar and a small amount of salt and pepper into a bowl and mix with a hand blender. Start pouring the oil slowly and consistently until the sauce starts becoming thicker. Keep adding the oil until the mayonnaise becomes thick and smooth. Don’t add the oil too fast, as the mixture may separate. Taste the mayonnaise and add some more salt and pepper or a little vinegar if you don’t find it tasty enough.
Mayonnaise can be served as is, or it may be flavored with various ingredients.
You can make mayonnaise in a blender. In this case, in the cup of the blender mix together the egg yolks, the mustard, the vinegar, the salt and the pepper. Without turning off the blender, start pouring in the oil in a continuous, thin stream. Taste the mayonnaise and flavor it as desired. Make sure that you don’t pour the oil too fast, as it will be more difficult to determine how thick the mayonnaise is.
If you wish to serve the mayonnaise with seafood, mix in 2 tablespoons dried tomato purée, 4 tablespoons sour cream, 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce and optionally 1 tablespoon brandy.
To make Tartar sauce, mix in 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley, four small, finely chopped pickles and 1 tablespoon washed and dried Capri, chopped into small pieces.
To make garlic mayonnaise, add 1–2 crushed garlic cloves to the egg yolks.
How to restore separated mayonnaise
If the ingredients in your mayonnaise have separated, try adding 1 tablespoon hot water. If this trick doesn’t help, beat up another egg yolk in a separate bowl and gradually add the separated mixture to the second egg yolk.
Homemade gravy
Clear gravy or just can be prepared by boiling wine and soup stock; during the process, the volume of the liquid will decrease and it will become thicker. However, traditional gravy is made with flour. In this case, you need to pay attention to the amount of the flour you use, as the gravy may become too thick if you add too much flour. It is the best if your gravy a bit thinner but tastier, rather than ending up with a thick gravy that tastes like flower.
Place the slices of roast onto a plate and keep them hot. Tilt the pan to collect the meat juice and the fat. Remove most part of the fat, leaving only about 1 tablespoon in the pan along with the meat juice. Mix in 2–3 teaspoons of flour, scrape up meat pieces stuck to the bottom of the pan, and cook the mixture on low heat for 1-2 minutes stirring continuously, until the flour starts turning brown. Add 300 mL red or white wine or a mixture of wine and soup stock and boil the mixture, stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper to taste and then strain the gravy into a gravy cup.
Variations
If you wish, you may use apple wine instead of regular wine, especially if you serve the gravy with pork or chicken. Madeira and Marsala wine goes well with chicken, wild game and calf, whereas Port wine is a good choice for wild game and duck. Whichever wine you use, mix it with soup stock, as undiluted the flavor of the wines will be too strong. You may also add water in which you cooked vegetables, but first you need to boil the water down to give it a more intense flavor.