Hay Mayonnaise

As you may recall, I tried a wonderful Hay Mayonnaise while I was having Sunday lunch with Simon, Mark, Becky, Hallie, and Craig at Trinity in Clapham. I wrote in to the chef begging for the recipe (because I couldn't find it online) and he obliged! I'll walk you through how to make it:

First - gather ingredients. Yes, that's hay you see. As in hay from a pet store. Just make sure it's not treated with any chemicals and you're fine! You'll also need eggs, salt, vegetable oil, Dijon mustard, white wine vinegar, and a lemon.

Next up - coarsely chop the hay (a decent-sized handful should do). I ended up using cooking sheers - that was easier

Then toast it in about 4 tablespoons of oil. Careful - it will get smokey. You want the flavor of the hay to seep into the oil. Add in another cup (yes, 1 cup) of oil after a few minutes and let it cook some more. Then set aside and let cool until it's about room temperature. (I got impatient and stuck mine in the freezer.)

In the meantime, measure out 3 tbsp. of white wine vinegar, 2 tbsp. of Dijon mustard, zest from half the lemon, and 2 egg yolks (just the yolks!) into a food processor and whir it up.

Once your oil is cooled, use an immersion blender to further blend and chop up the hay.

Next comes the 'hard' part - emulsifying the oil *SLOWLY* into the other ingredients. Pour in just a teensy bit at a time into the food processor and whir it up, bit by bit. This is what makes the mayonnaise!

Once you've added in all the oil, add about half the juice from the lemon and a dash of salt and mix it in.

Serve with veggies - radishes are key! I added sliced green pepper and baby carrots.

(I also used some to spread on my sandwich - tasty!)

According to most websites, homemade mayonnaise will keep for 2 or 3 days (since it's fresh, it's not like store-bought mayo that keeps forever). I hope you enjoy it!