Tuesday, January 12, 2010

EGG WEEK!! and Spot the Book Contest Winner


Congratulations once again to Janel G., who won a Junior's Cheesecake for providing this week's Secret Ingredient for Mystery Lovers' Kitchen's version of Iron Chef!

Janel suggested EGGS!

You can imagine how eggcited I was to hear what our secret ingredient was this time! Thrilled is more the word! With Eggsecutive Orders hitting the bookstore shelves just one
week ago, the timing couldn't be better.

It's my turn t to start this Iron Chef week and I'll get to my Egg Recipe in a minute. But I just wanted to also add that today I'm announcing the winner in the Eggsecutive Orders Spot the Book contest. That will appear at the end of this post because I'm writing this ahead of time and I haven't pulled a name just yet ;-)

In the meantime, don't forget to continue sending us your suggestions for our next Secret Ingredient! You could win Fannie May Chocolate! Fannie May is - unequivocally - the best chocolate I've ever tasted. I'm partial to the dark chocolate covered almonds, but if you win, you'll get to choose!

Now... Are you ready for EGG WEEK?? I guarantee this will be an eggstraordinary event!

AIOLI (Garlic Mayonnaise)

3 egg yolks

4 cloves garlic, mashed, peeled, and very finely minced

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

¾ cup olive oil (not extra virgin)

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

1 lemon, halved, seeded, and juiced

¼ teaspoon white pepper (You can use black pepper if you don’t have this, but you’ll

see the flecks of it in the finished product. It gives it a rustic look, which isn’t all bad.)

1 teaspoon white vinegar

This is a blender recipe, to take all the stress out of getting it to emulsify. Place the egg yolks, garlic, and the mustard in the container of a blender. Cover and pulse to blend completely, about 1 minute. Remove the center of the lid, and begin to pour the olive oil into the container in a thin stream, still running on slow. When the mixture comes together and looks like mayonnaise (usually about when half the oil is incorporated), stop pouring oil and add in the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Blend. Add in another thin stream of olive oil while blending. Stop when about 2 tablespoons of oil are left to add. Add a splash of lemon juice. Blend. Adjust seasonings to taste. Add the rest of the oil if needed. The sauce should be thick, creamy, and rich, with a lovely tang of garlic.

My two cents: This recipe appears in Eggsecutive Orders. In the book it says "juice of one lemon" in the ingredients, and calls for a "splash" as noted above. I tried it both ways and prefer the "splash." Juice of an entire lemon makes the mixture a bit too watery, and a bit too lemony. But your mileage may vary.

Stay tuned all week for lots of interesting uses for eggs!!

And don't forget to keep sending in your suggestions for our Secret Ingredient. We will be announcing the name of our next winner soon.

Speaking of winners... Many, many readers wrote in to tell me that they'd spotted Eggsecutive Orders at local bookstores. Most readers also mentioned that they picked up a copy while they were there. First - Thank you!!

Second - I wish there could be a hundred winners, but the name I pulled from all entries is...

:::drumroll:::

Yvonne B. from San Antonio

has won a $25 gift certificate to The Mystery Company Bookstore. I'll be in touch, but if you don't hear from me, be sure to email at JulieHyzy(at)gmail(dot)com so that we can arrange for you to choose your books. I've worked this out with The Mystery Company before (they don't charge shipping) and it's very smooth.

Congrats to Yvonne!!

Enjoy Egg Week!

Julie

www.juliehyzy.com

14 comments:

  1. I love recipes where I can use my blender! Such easy cleaning that way. And garlic mayo sounds like something that would be a HIT with my family, Julie.

    I'm excited about "Eggsecutive Orders!" I've read some great teasers that have me ready to find out the rest of the story!

    Riley
    Mystery Writing is Murder

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  2. A super kick off to egg week. (You just cannot make mayo without it)! Aioli has so many wonderful uses, too, and garlic and me are old friends. Congrats again on the pub of your 3rd eggciting White House Chef Mystery!

    ~Cleo
    Coffeehouse Mystery.com
    “Where coffee and crime are always brewing…”
    Cleo Coyle on Twitter

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  3. Elizabeth - this is very tasty. Lots of flavor. I should probably add that we found this aioli to be *great* on sandwiches - particularly paninis. After Krista's post some time back about making these at home, Santa caught the hint and brought our family a panini maker. It gets lots of use and this garlic mayo is a great spread for a roasted veggie sandwich!

    Julie

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  4. Thanks, Cleo! I wanted to focus on something that was egg-centric but maybe a little off the radar. I love garlic, too, and this one is pretty garlicky... If it's too much for some folks, the recipe is easily adjusted.

    Julie

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  5. What a great Santa to bring a panini maker!

    I love your aioli recipe for egg week. We're so used to buying mayo in a jar, but the real thing is so much better!

    Congrats to Janel G. and to Yvonne!

    ~ Krista

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  6. Julie, the recipe looks yummy. I can think of all kinds of things it would be good with.

    I finished State of the Onion earlier this week and liked it so much. I'll be moving my way through the series (must read in order you know) and will be getting to the new one soon I'm sure. Thanks so much for writing them!

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  7. Julie, I'm so egg-cited for you. Thanks for kicking off egg week. I look forward to all the fun dishes this week. Monday will be the last day of Iron Chef egg week, which will sort of throw things a little off kilter in my head. But that's normal for me these days. Can't wait to try your recipe! Splash of lemon. Got it.

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  8. Krista - yep, you definitely inspired Santa! He says thanks for the idea and we say thanks because we're making all sorts of delicious treats!

    Kay - I'm so glad you enjoyed State of the Onion! I like reading in order, too. I wish they'd put numbers on the books, but at least Amazon (sometimes) lists the order. I find that helpful ;-)

    Avery - LOL - I feel as though I'm always off kilter these days too. With your move and all the work that goes with it, you have to be going nuts. Thanks for your eggcitement! Can't wait to see what you have planned on Monday :::grin:::

    Julie

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  9. Glad to see I picked an ingredient that is eggstra close to your heart right now :)

    This sounds like the perfect way to use my neighbor's free range eggs. Also, I'm sure my kids would get a kick out of watching it emulsify.

    I can't wait to see all of the recipes this week. Thank you, ladies, for the cheesecake. It was wonderful!

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  10. Janel!!
    Yep, we love your egg suggestion! And we're delighted that you enjoyed your cheesecake!

    Julie

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  11. LOL! Wait until you see my post
    tomorrow, Julie. I really could
    have used your recipe yesterday
    when I made my egg week offering!

    CONGRATS, Janel!!!

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  12. Jenn -- I can't wait! Looking forward to it! ;-)

    Julie

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  13. I've never made aioli before. This one sounds great! Can't wait to try it!

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  14. Hi Jennie - I hadn't made aoili before trying this recipe, either. It's so great when it's home made!

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