My mother had a very strong faith in God and she passed that along to me, thanks be to God. She also had a strong faith in the power of mayonnaise to make whatever one is eating more tasty and it's that belief that I want to explain today.
She had a great influence on her grandson. The other day my son was fixing a beautiful steak for himself, and he mixed up mayo and horseradish to form a tasty sauce for the steak. He works in a restaurant. He is fearless in the kitchen, far more adventurous than me, which I applaud.
My son loves a good fried egg sandwich with Duke's mayo.
Duke's Mayonnaise is the only type of mayo allowed in my home. It's simply the best -- not just my opinion, but in the opinion of most southerners.
When I was eight years old and we moved to Knoxville TN my mother discovered, much to her horror, that Duke's was not sold in K-town. Much sadness and gnashing of teeth and wailing... She bought Hellman's and it was okay. Not good. Not Duke's. It was better than nothing, though, put it that way.
Duke's is so superior to most mayo that one must simply feel pity for those without access to it.
Below are some ways to use mayo [it's quicker to type out "mayo" than "Duke's" or "Hellman's"] that you might not have thought about..
POTATOES
Butter, salt, and sour cream are the standard potato additions, but Mom used to peel and boil potatoes and toss them with some mayo, onion powder, and garlic salt. You can also add a dollop of mayo to mashed potatoes.
There is a trend now of making potato salad without mayo. I tasted some once. Then I had to go brush my tongue to get the taste out of my mouth.
SAUCES
Take mayo and add real parmesan cheese and onion powder or whatever seasoning you like, and it makes a great topping for potatoes, and/or a great dipping sauce.
FISH
1) Baked Fish: slather mayo on your fish, then sprinkle on dill weed, and top with slices of lemon or lime and bake
2) Sauce: mix up mayo, fresh lime juice, lots of dill weed, onion powder, and stir vigorously. We also add a sprinkle of Lawrey's seasoned salt. This works great slathered on most any kind of cooked fish or used as a dipping sauce.
CHICKEN
Unlike my mother, grandmother, and generations of fine cooks before me, I stink at fixing fried chicken. However, I have figured out a way to fry chicken tenders that is super easy and tasty.
Take your chicken pieces and salt and pepper both sides and let them sit in a pan or on paper towels on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes. Put 2-4 tablespoons of mayo in a dish, and add your chicken, and let it sit in there a few minutes. Pull out eat piece and roll it in seasoned breadcrumbs. The mayo helps the breadcrumbs stick to the meat. Saute in olive oil.
If you don't have seasoned breadcrumbs you can take Ritz crackers and crush them and add in Italian seasoning, and garlic and onion powders.
CORNBREAD
Don't laugh. Lewis Grizzard's mama added mayo to the cornbread and it makes it more moist and delicious.
For all cornbread, hoecakes, and corn muffins, we use Lewis Grizzard's mama's recipe:
1 1/2 cups White Lily self-rising cornmeal
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
2 heaping spoonfulls of Duke's mayonnaise
pinch salt [no sugar!]
I would put this in a pan and bake it at 350 for about 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the pan. I would also fix this like pancakes and add syrup or honey. Yum.
left, my mom in the kitchen of our lake house in Knoxville
right, me and some of my Hasty cousins in the kitchen of our Leslie Drive house
#mayorecipes, #mayochickenandfish, #dukesmayoisthebest, #mayodippingsauces
