Empire Mayonnaise Co.

It was a hot and extremely humid day, but it also happened to be my birthday, so I was going to do whatever I wanted. I walked to the Empire Mayonnaise Co. - about two miles away - and browsed their selection. I'd never tried them but I'd read good things, and I was in the mood to buy some gourmet food. I selected the black garlic, vadouvan, smoked paprika, and lime pickle varieties. Here are some of the things I made with them. (Everything was delicious, including the mayos, so I won't be adding any commentary.)

 Black Garlic Peppercorn Steakhouse Burgers

I grilled one of those amazing brisket-and-short rib patties from Paisanos, slathered black garlic mayo on a kaiser roll, added caramelized onions and blue cheese, then finished it off with A.1. Peppercorn steak sauce.  

 

Lime Pickle Crab Cakes

Out for a walk one day, I ducked into Cobblestone Foods and bought one of their crab cakes - thick pucks stuffed with plenty of crab as well as spices - then added a dollop of the lime pickle mayo, which I had been told worked very well with seafood. 

Smoked Paprika Whiskey Pickle Burgers

There was a thunderstorm so I wasn't in the mood to walk all the way to Paisanos; I went to Heights Prime Meats instead, which is only three blocks away and pretty damn good in its own right. I put the smoked paprika mayo on a fresh brioche bun, grilled the meat, added Swiss cheese, caramelized onions and whiskey-maple pickles.

French Curry Mustard Salami Sandwiches

The deli counter of a local supermarket stocks a salami flecked with mustard seeds, and it's a rare week that a package isn't sitting on our refrigerator shelf. (It's easy to make a sandwich for Elizabeth to take to work and it's really easy for me to snack on the salami any time I get a craving.) I placed a few slices of the salami on a piece of flatbread with cheese and hot peppers, and slicked the other half of the flatbread with the vandouvan mayo.