Make your own mayo to control what goes into it – much tastier and cheaper too.

Making your own mayonnaise is much easier than you imagine and it allows you to control exactly what goes into it. Use four egg yolks for a super-stable emulsion and dribble in 250ml canola oil at room temperature. All the ingredients must be at room temperature. Add a teaspoon of mustard, a teaspoon of salt and half of teaspoon of pepper. Dribble the oil in drip by drop while whisking the eggs and the mustard. With the emulsion underway, you will see it forming ribbons and it gets so think your hand gets tired or the machine gets warm, add a tablespoon of good quality (expensive) vinegar. Once you’ve added all the oil, (I drop it in from a jug) whisk in a tablespoon of water. Right, your basic mayo is now ready. It will look like a yellow ointment. The ingredients are very inexpensive so don’t stress if it doesn’t work the first time. Just toss it and start again.

As it is so highly flavoured you will only need to use between a teaspoon and a tablespoon per meal. Here’s a tip – wash your salad leaves and while they are still damp stir in a teaspoon of mayo to form the dressing or when making a chicken salad add the chicken to the mayo while it is still warm.

In this dish, made from chicken breasts roasted in the oven at 180 for 35 minutes and salad leaves, crunch and zing is in the form of chili-flavoured cashew nuts and celery. A delicious high-protein, low carb and low fat meal that is easy to make. Store the mayo in the fridge. I find mine stays fresh for two weeks at least and is always finished before I need to turf it.