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