Many of you already know of the wonderful food of Yotam Ottolenghi.  I can’t wait to get his latest book, Jerusalem. Hoping someone reading this will give it to me for Christmas in a few days time and considering that the only person who is aware of My Sensible Friend at the moment is my husband (I haven’t got it looking quite the way I want it yet), well….this could be my way of finding out whether he is actually reading the blog or not.

“Ottolenghi draws on a wealth of culinary traditions – with a focus on the Mediterranean basin – providing inventive yet honest food, anything from a lemon and mascarpone tart to a grilled mackerel with olive and raisin salsa, made only from the best basic raw ingredients.”

How perfect is that? I have had the first, self titled book of Ottolenghi’s for a while now, and want to share with my thermomixing friends a version of his marvellous mayonnaise, called Ruth’s Mayonnaise. You don’t need a thermomix to make this, a food processor or a bowl and whisk (if you’re superwoman) will do.

There is another recipe of his involving feta and fennel that I am hoping to get out there tomorrow if I can bear the Christmas crowds at the shop today. The thermomix book calls for room temp eggs in their mayo, but if you live in Australia in summer the chances of having eggs lying around at room temperature are pretty much nil and I have found using cold eggs makes no difference at all.

Ruth’s Mayonnaise

• 1 good big egg
• 1 tbs dijon mustard
• 1 tsp raw sugar
• half tsp good salt
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 tbs cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
• few sprigs fresh coriander (optional as I never seem to have any in the fridge)
• approx 500ml cold-pressed oil like macadamia (I find olive too strong-tasting)

Turn Thermomix on to speed 8 and drop garlic onto running blades.

Insert butterfly and add everything but oil.

Turn on to speed 4, let egg mix up for about 20 seconds, then pour oil in slowly with MC on. Takes about two to three minutes. All done.

If you’re doing this without a Thermomix halve your ingredients so you’re not whisking for three days; just combine everything but the oil, then slowly pour the oil into the bowl of the other ingredients while you whisk. Friends or kids make great bowl-holders and whiskerers.