Instant Quail Mayonnaise with Dijon Mustard & Fresh Dill

Wow. My 100th post. Already? It seems like it was yesterday I was posting about pancakes.

Moving on.

There are some things in the food world that people feel is tedious to make, hard to make, or unnecessary to make. Thus, it has been brought to us in millions of brands, with different ways of making it, and different prices based on the quality of the ingredients.

Off the top of my head I can think of two food categories that fit this description: baked goods and condiments. The Gluten Free Ratio Rally helped me see the error of my ways for the former. As for the latter, well, let’s just say I have a fairly condiment-free existence.

And I’m okay with that, despite the fact I love various nut butters, sour cream, and Dijon mustard. But there is one condiment that I think everyone at some point in their lives has a love-hate relationship with. That, my friends, is mayonnaise.

A great condiment for this recipe.

Most of us were introduced to mayonnaise as a white, oily, and, in my personal experience, foul smelling concoction posing as what mayonnaise used to be from the olden days. As a kid I put a little on my ham and cheese sandwiches, and [sometimes] a teeny bit in my tuna salads. But after a while I just couldn’t manage that… that stuff anymore. Burt-man loves the store-bought brands, and we joke that he looks for things to put on it instead of the other way around. Recently, though, we’ve noticed that some of the things we make for dinner are missing something where hot gravies, broths, and other condiments wouldn’t work as well.

The mayonnaise I’m referring isn’t store-bought, and there’s something else that adds to its uniqueness. As the title of this post has told you, this form of mayonnaise is made with quail eggs.

[source]

Quail eggs are the cutest things. It takes five of them to equal the calories and weight of a large chicken egg. Their shells are a pain to open, and don’t get me started on attempting to separate the yolks from the whites. Besides that, they have a marvelous taste to them. For some reason, they taste rather “blue” to me.

The beauty of quail eggs, and the reason why I chose them to make mayonnaise, was because of the bird itself. Since the birds have a higher body temperature as well as various other awesome things, it is impossible for salmonella to be present in the eggs. Therefore, it is completely, totally, and utterly safe to eat them (the eggs) raw… within reason, of course.

Hence, mayonnaise. The instant (albeit epic) kind. My recipe is adapted from Ruhlman’s book Ratio, so of course it turned out awesomely.

Instant Quail Mayonnaise with Dijon Mustard & Fresh Dill

3 Quail eggs (the whites give it a lighter color and airy texture)
2 tsp. Lemon juice
1 tsp. Water
1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Sea salt
90 g (> 3.15 oz or 1/2 c.) Olive oil
1 Dill sprig, leaves removed from the stem
1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Combine the quail eggs, lemon juice, water, and salt in the food processor’s smallest work bowl and pulse until mixed.
Add a few drops of oil, hold the pulse button and blend until an emulsion forms (a few seconds at the most).
With the blade running, pour the remaining oil slowly into the chute for the mixture to incorporate the oil.
Once the mayonnaise has solidified and opaque, add the dill leaves and Dijon mustard and pulse until thoroughly merged.
Use immediately or store up to three days in the fridge.

Makes roughly 1/2 c.