Mayonnaise Archives - Nerds with Knives

White Asparagus with Black Garlic Aioli

June 13, 2024March 18, 2021 by Emily

If fresh, local asparagus is in the stores, it must be early Spring. This vegetable is one of the first to beckon in the new season and herald an end to Winter. We simmer the delicate white asparagus spears until they become tender and sweet, then drizzle them with a homemade aioli flavored with black garlic, lemon, and miso. It’s both simple and incredibly delicious.

Note: This recipe will work just as well with green asparagus, if that’s what you have (and the Black Garlic Aioli is delicious on just about anything. It’s crazy good).

White Asparagus — White asparagus, colorful eggs from our backyard chickens and pink lemons. We’re all about color right now.

Basil Green Goddess Dressing

July 5, 2024August 5, 2016 by Emily

While you can’t throw a carrot without hitting a bottle of ranch dressing these days (seriously, Americans are obsessed with the stuff), in the 1960s and 70s, Green Goddess was king. Or Queen, I should say.

Invented in California and named after its distinctive color, the original version was a mix of tarragon, parsley, chives and scallions. It really took off in the 60s, the era of wedge iceberg salads and cream cheese stuffed celery sticks. Eventually, as trends always do (sorry kale, your time is almost up), it fell out of favor. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve seen it on a menu.

And that’s a real shame because when made well, it’s absolutely delicious and so much better than ranch.

Raising chicks: We’re All Clucked! A video diary

October 23, 2019April 21, 2016 by Matt

Raising chicks isn’t something we ever thought we’d do, and yet here we are, in our basement with a half-dozen chirping chicks on our hands. Join us to watch the fun!

Hi, woodland chums!

No recipe this week as Emily is busy with photography work, so I thought I’d “entertain” you (rarely was a word used so incorrectly with such flagrant abandon) with a little video diary of us raising chicks. Last September, we got five new chicks, and like any proud parent, I Periscoped the hell out of them for about a month before promptly dropping the whole documentary process.

Our salmon favarolles, AKA Bernie Sanders. Can you guess how she acquired this nickname?

Creamy, Homemade Aïoli (Garlicky, Lemony Mayonnaise)

June 15, 2024March 11, 2016 by Emily

Creamy, Homemade Aioli (Garlicky, Lemony Mayo) — Our homemade aioli

I’m totally the type of person who, if it were socially acceptable, would outfit everything in my house with ‘the clapper’. In fact, if someone invented one that cooked dinner and made cocktails, I’d be flamenco-ing myself silly.

What I’m saying is, I don’t really like to make extra work for myself.

Even though I obviously enjoy cooking, I’ve never been tempted to make my own ketchup. Heinz already rocks that market. Make my own Worcestershire sauce? Um… no thanks. Mayonnaise? That’s another story.