Tartar Sauce

Okay Rachel, this is for you. I do have a few variations on tartar sauce, the major thing being home made versus store bought. I prefer making tartar sauce from scratch in terms of consistency of the sauce and overall control in ingredients. But, it is hard to beat the convenience of ready made mayonnaise.

Easy and Fast Tartar sauce:

3/4 cup Mayonnaise, Best Foods
1/8 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon each chopped capers and pickles
1 teaspoon finely chopped onion or shallot (shallot is better, onion is cheaper)
1/2 teaspoon finely snipped chives and parsley combined
White pepper to taste

Combine mayonnaise, cream, pickle juice and Worcestershire sauce, adjust with half of cream first to get desired texture. You want a consistency that is slightly thicker than the cream itself. Should hold to spoon when tipped.

Add in vegetables and blend. Allow to sit for 15 minutes if possible. Season with white pepper to adjust heat level. Allow to sit and chill for additional 15 minutes or more for best results.

Not at all Easy and Fast Tartar sauce:
3/4 cup home made mayonnaise
1/8 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dill pickle juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon each chopped capers and pickles
1 teaspoon finely chopped onion or shallot (shallot is better, onion is cheaper)
1/2 teaspoon finely snipped chives and parsley combined
White pepper to taste

Making mayonnaise:
2 extra large fresh eggs. Pastuerized eggs will work, I really prefer to get very fresh local aggs
1-3/4 cups of oil, normally I use a very good olive oil (grapeseed oil is a great choice too)
1/4 teaspoon fine salt (I use fine sea salt)
1-1/2 tablespoons lemon juice (or vinegar)
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

Blend egg yolks thoroughly, this can be done by hand, I use a food processor (more to follow). Do something with the egg whites, you don't need them for this. Add the mustard powder. Now, you must add the oil very slowly, go too fast an it will not emulsify. Here is why I use a food processor, most of them have a pusher that has a small hole in the bottom of the pusher for the feed tube. If you fill this with half of the oil, it will trickle in at just the correct flow. If you go by hand (I will use a whisk sometimes) then you need to add a drop or two every few seconds. Once the oil is completely incorporated, add the lemon juice and salt. Taste and adjust salt.

Note: the mustard powder is not needed and some people dislike it. But, mustard powder is a great emulsifier and makes creating the egg/oil emulsion much easier.

Now, on to the Tartar Sauce...
Combine mayonnaise, cream, pickle juice and Worcestershire sauce, adjust with half of cream first to get desired texture. You want a consistency that is slightly thicker than the cream itself. Should hold to spoon when tipped.

Add in vegetables and blend. Allow to sit for 15 minutes if possible. Season with white pepper to adjust heat level. Allow to sit and chill for additional 15 minutes or more for best results.

To make this into Remoulade:
Delete the pickle juice, add champagne vinegar
Delete the pickles, double capers
Add finely chopped celery
Delete chives, add tarragon in it's place