Whisk together:

• 2 egg yokes
• 2 Tbsp vinegar
• ¼ tsp salt

Whisk like the dickens while slowly adding one cup oil (see below).  Start drop by drop and as the mayo thickens, lightly pour the oil in a steady stream.  Be sure the oil is thoroughly incorporated as it’s added.

Use a healthy oil; high oleic sunflower and safflower oil are my favs, they have mild flavor and are healthy; some brands even have high levels of omega-3.  You can also use other highly flavored oils as well; just don’t use more than a 1/3 cup for your first time.  Olive oil is great; try walnut oil (great butter flavor!) or hazelnut oil or truffle oil.  If you do, let me know how they turn out!

Add a tsp or so of mustard and salt and pepper to taste.  Pour into a jar.

Now test your counter intuition; leave the mayo out, on the counter overnight.  At room temperature, the acid in the vinegar will have better reactivity with any potential pathogens, including salmonella.  After that, keep it in the fridge and it will keep for a few months, unless of course you gobble it all up on turkey sandwiches.   

Experiment with herbs, hot sauces, spices, roasted peppers, whatever you like!

My grocery store recently began to carry King Arthur bread flour, so rather than using the usual whole wheat, I thought I’d give it a try; here it goes…

Mix together:

3 c lukewarm water – 85-105 degrees
2 T yeast
1/4 c honey
1/2 c dry milk (optional)

Mix in 4 cups of flour. Once combined, beat 100 times.  This is a sponge; a great way to start the yeast going before you add the salt; it should be the consistency of thick batter.  Cover and let sit for 45 min in a warm area.

After 45 min or so (once it’s doubled), fold in 4 tsp salt and 1/3 cup of oil.  Now mix in 3 more cups of flour.  Get ready to start kneading.  Dump the mess onto a floured surface, scrape out the bowl, and begin to knead, adding more flour as you go; about one more cup.  Knead for 10 mins if you’re a fast kneader (20 kneads a minute), 15 if you’re slow.  The dough should be smooth and slightly tacky, not sticky. Wipe your brow, the tough part is over.  Coat the bottom of the same bowl from before with a little oil, no need to clean it out.  Drop in the dough and give it a good swish to coat the bottom of it, then flip the dough over so the whole ball of dough is coated with oil.  Cover the bowl and let rise ‘til doubled, about an hour.

Mix together:

• ¾ cup white flour
• ¾ cup white whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• Lemon zest from 2 lemons

In a separate bowl whisk together:

• 4 eggs
• 2 Tbsp milk or water
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla
• ¾ cup oil

Mix the two together and pour by ¼ cup into greased muffin tin.  Bake 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. When muffins are done, sprinkle/brush with the glaze (see below).  Makes 12.

Glaze: Mix over medium heat until sugar dissolves:

• Juice from 2 lemons
• 4 Tbsp sugar

Modified from The Joy of Cooking

I used to suck at making bread.  It would always come out too moist or too dry.  Until that is, I found the Tassajara Bread Book.  The basic recipe is simple and great and has never failed me.  I had it memorized at one point.  It tells you exactly how long to do everything such as kneading and resting and such.  Check it out to make some yummy homemade bread!

Be warned however, the recipes in this book are fatty and salty, but that’s how they’re supposed to be. If you’re looking for low fat, reduced salt food, don’t bother with this book. On its chapter on sausages it states, “If you must avoid fat for dietary reasons, avoid sausage; we don’t recommend trying to make or work with low-fat sausage – low fat sausage is an oxymoron to us.” Nor will you find any Rachel Ray 20-minute meals in here; be prepared for lengthy prep times, oftentimes on the order of days. However, if you’re looking to taste some amazing food, meat in particular, you’re in the right place.

I have tried the brined and smoked turkey recipe; it is fantastic. First I must say that brining should be mandatory for any poultry you cook; at the very least it imparts a juiciness otherwise impossible to achieve, at its best the meat will pick up all the subtle or complex flavors of the herbs and spices infused in the brine. Pork loin also greatly benefits from brining in a bay leaf and peppercorn solution.

I smoked the brined turkey breast for several hours using crab apple branches cut from the tree in my yard. The crispy, amber-black crust gave way to juicy, butter-textured meat. And the meat, the meat was sophisticatedly sweet and tarragon-flavored from the brine which melded with the rustic crab apple wood smoke. A few slices on some hearty bread with some homemade mayonnaise, and I had found heaven.

Mix up ¼ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup oil (use a high oleic sunflower or safflower oil for better health), ¼ cup of maple syrup, and ½ tsp salt. You can adjust for sweetness and change up the sugars; try honey, brown rice syrup, molasses or agave.

Now add about 6 cups of stuff; I use 4 cups rolled oats, 1 cup sliced almonds, 1 cup walnuts, and ¼ cup sunflower seeds. You can use whatever combination you like. Mix that up real good to coat everything. I like to add a ¼ cup of ground flax seeds and mix that in too for some extra omega-3s.

Spread it on a baking sheet and bake for 1hour 15minutes at 250 degrees. I can’t help but munch on the warm walnuts when I pull the granola from the oven; mmmmm so yummy and buttery. Once it’s cooled, you can add dried fruit if you like.

It’s healthy, affordable, and always your favorite flavor.