The Yolk's on Us...

or is it?

Yeah - you heard me right... You see, we're constantly being told by supermarkets and marketing guru's that we need to buy the products that we like or need. It's seen as somehow a little "wrong" to make your own anything... I mean, how would you react if a friend said she was making her own clothes? Your first thought (if she's not a fashion major) will be to wonder if she's running low on money. Don't shake your head... some part of you knows it's true. The Other One is a prime example... if they package it in something "shiny or sparkly", then she's likely to buy it even if it's something she doesn't need or will never use - her whole kitchen being a prime example! I think the oven still has "new appliance" smell. The only thing worn in is the coffee machine and only because her wonderful housekeeper used to be a barista and mornings are 'lean under ' times (she doesn't like the term hangover) where coffee is a MUST. Right after that she moves onto hair of the dog. The whole dog.


Miss Twinset is another one... She has certain products and brand names that she simple "can't live without" and if I even suggest that she try making some of her kitchen favourites for herself...? Well, the reaction is not very ladylike. The funny part of it all is that there are some things that sound difficult, but once you've tried making them for yourself, you'll discover that they're not only easy, but so delicious that you'll simply keep making them... much to the annoyance of all those advertising and marketing people :-) and the absolute delight of your wallet and budget!!


I promised you yesterday that I would tell you what to do with your leftover egg yolks from the Pavlova and there are 2 delicious and useful things that you can make with reasonable ease while your Pavlova meringue's are baking. I'm afraid that you can't keep the yolks for long or they go... "icky". So, let's start with something that's an English teatime favourite... Lemon Curd!


You'll need 4 egg yolks, 180ml of sugar, pinch of salt, 80ml of lemon juice, 4 tbl spoons of butter and 2 tbl spoons of lemon zest. You beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a pan and when it's well mixed, you add the butter, salt and lemon juice. So far, so easy. Here comes the only really tricky part... you need to STIR IT constantly while it's on a medium heat. The only way you get out of this is if you can either convince a Tipsy Tart or bribe Ruby into doing it for you... The chances of those aren't good, so you're stuck with plan A! Now, bear in mind that you don't want to boil the mix or you're going to end up with the weirdest, lemon flavoured scrambled eggs ever. I've never had it happen, but I can imagine it won't be pretty :-) When the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (about 6 - 10 min or so), you need to pour it through a sieve so that any accidental "scrambled" bits are left behind. You now have a dark yellow, smooth, lemony curd. To this, you're going to add the 2 tbl spoons of lemon rind and then you can put it in a jar for later.


Lemon curd is pricey in the stores and it's so simple to make (and far tastier) that you'll never be held to ransom by the supermarket over this again. You can use this as a base for lemon meringue tartlets or even for lemon bars. It's also great on toast or crumpets or..... most things :-)


The other basic - and definitely far more common - kitchen item that you are probably paying a lot for is an item that seems to trouble even the most kitchen savvy girl :-) Mayonnaise! Yeah ... you heard me. We're going to make mayonnaise! It always sounds soooo impressive when people say that they make their own. I've been to a number of dinners where the hostess has humbly presented us with a bowl of mayo to accompany this dish or that and when asked which brand it is... she's tittered prettily behind her napkin and confessed to making it herself... usually with one of those "oh this old stuff" expressions on her face. You're usually left feeling like you should be humble in the face of her sacrifice... after all, you are her guest and she thought you were so special that she slaved away making you mayonnaise. It's a condiment that means something. Take a breath here.... it's MAYO :-) Yes, the recipe can be intimidating, but actually it wasn't that bad. Shall we begin?


Well, for this recipe, you'll need egg yolks, salt, pepper, white wine vinegar and oil... lots of oil. This certainly isn't

your diet friendly condiment, but if you're going to be having it anyway, you may as well know exactly what is in it. You start by putting your egg yolks, salt, pepper into a bowl and beating this on a medium speed until it is thick, pale and fluffy. When this has happened, you need to slowly add about 120ml of the oil in a very thin stream until this is all incorporated into the egg mix. This may require some co-ordination if - like me - you're using a hand-held beater. Then add the vinegar and beat again. From here on out, you're going to add the rest of the oil (about 380ml of it) slowly into the mix in a thin stream, making sure not to let it split on you. When you're done, you'll have a bowl of very thick mayonnaise :-) Ok, so I made this recipe over the weekend, but to be honest... it was just a lot of work for me with the electric hand beater :-) So... what's a resourceful girl to do? Google! And there it was... the holy grail of home mayonnaise making adventures. Mayo in Minutes :-)


This recipe differed in a few ways... it was 2 egg yolks, 1 tbl spoon of white wine vinegar, 1 tbl spoon of lemon juice, 3/4 of a tsp of salt, 1/8 of a tsp of sugar, 1 tsp of Dijon mustard, 1 cup of vegetable oil and 1/2 cup of olive oil. I'm a complete heathen and simply can't stand the taste of olive oil (I'll wait until you've all recovered from the shock and horror of it all)... So what did I do? I just used 1 1/2 cups of veg oil and it turned out great. What makes this recipe my new favourite discovery is the fact that you put ALL the ingredients into a narrow container which is just large enough to hold one of those stick blenders. I used a jar :-) You put all the ingredients into the jar (starting with the egg yolk and ending with the oil), wait for the egg to settle and then insert the stick blender. Pulse gently and slowly with the blender and you'll be able to watch magic happen... the kind you don't need a pixie for! UM... Even though we LOVE having you around Ruby :-) As the mix turns to mayo at the bottom of the jar, you'll be able to get more energetic with the stick blender and within moments, you have a jar full of mayonnaise... For those of us living in SA, it tastes a lot like the imported Hellman's Regular Mayo which is quite pricey... This recipe will set you back around R8 or about $1.20!


So... I now even have Miss Twinset's attention. She loves saving money in her grocery budget - gives her more money to spend on shoes or twinsets or pearls or wine :-) The other one didn't know there was egg in her mayo, so that little revelation was amusing, but even she was impressed. So... are you going to be brave enough to try it? After all, not only did we just not waste the egg yolks from the meringue, but we also showed producers that the yolk's not on us anymore :-)


Until next time...