I had this hankering for some homemade mayonnaise. Weird vibe, I know. I don’t particularly like mayo, but the craving would not subside. I bought some burgers from work, and I knew some fresh mayo would add a nice touch. I made a traditional mayo seasoned with lemon pepper.
The problem is that there is no such thing as making just a tiny bit of mayonnaise. One egg yolk can hold about a cup of oil. That’s quite a bit of mayo, which is why I rarely make any. Even if I think a sandwich could benefit from a spread of hand-whipped mayo, I typically can’t imagine being able to use the whole cup of mayo before it goes bad.
Since I just had to have this mayo, I had to figure out what to do with the rest of it. I went back to the burger section at the grocery store. Wegmans sells these buffalo chicken burgers in the meat section. These are pre-mixed ground chicken patties sold in two-packs. I generally find poultry burgers easily dry out in cooking, but these burgers are perfectly tender after cooking. With some melted mozzarella cheese on top and my lemon pepper mayo, this burger was a tasty treat. The mayo added a creaminess and balanced out the spice of the burger. Fresh mayo has a lighter and luscious mouthfeel than ranch dressing or blue cheese, more typically paired with buffalo chicken. If you live near a Wegmans, I highly recommend picking up some of their buffalo chicken burgers.
My burger phase did not end there. I also picked out some salmon burgers. Salmon burgers can be tricky to keep from falling apart. I like to give them a good sear but be gentle when flipping. While I love a sauce like tzatziki with salmon burgers, a knife-full of my mayo brightened this burger.
This mayo came in handy for another aspect of this meal. A green salad always pairs well with salmon burgers, in my opinion. I thought about using some mayo to make ranch dressing, which is part mayo and part buttermilk. Only I didn’t have the necessary herbs. Instead, I made creamy Italian dressing, a recipe by the Busy Baker. The tang of this dressing popped with the herbs. Mayo can be added to dressings to give it a creaminess, but do be weary that homemade mayo dressings are going to have a short shelf life. Use it up while its fresh!
Finally, I put the rest of my mayo to use making a dip. When I think of mayonnaise based dips, I think of creamy spinach dip. I prefer spinach dip to spinach and artichoke dip, because I don’t care much for the brininess and texture of canned artichokes. Spinach dip does not require mayo. Some recipes only call for cream cheese and sour cream. I like the addition of a little mayo, though not too much or it can get greasy with all the cheese. The version I made was simple, containing, cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, garlic, spinach, mozzarella, and parmesan, baked until bubbly. When this dip is warm, what a dreamy bite you will have on some tortilla chips, pitas, or crostini.
I may not make mayo very often, but at least I found some good ways to use every bit of it. I don’t like wasting food. So, if you are every stuck on what to do with your mayonnaise, even if it isn’t homemade, here are some ideas.
Catie Cooks 