Egg Salad with Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise

For tomorrow's "Spring Fling" luncheon at Huber, one of the cold sandwich salad recipes that I wanted to try out was egg salad, and I based what I made off of this recipe by Emeril Lagasse.

Egg and Lobster Salad with Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise, recipe follows
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
• Pinch cayenne
• 1 (1-pound) lobster, cooked until tender, tail meat chopped, claw meat left whole
• 2 cups mescaline greens, washed and spun dry
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 firm, ripe Hass avocado, peeled and seed removed, rubbed with fresh lemon juice to prevent discoloration
• 8 pencil-thin asparagus spears, blanched and shocked in ice water bath, patted dry
• Sevruga caviar, tobiko, golden whitefish or salmon roe, for garnish
• Chopped fresh tarragon leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, place the eggs and cover with water by 1-inch. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook the eggs at a bare boil for exactly 10 minutes.
2. Drain and rinse under cold running water. Place the eggs in an ice bath to cool. When chilled, peel the eggs, cut in half lengthwise, and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Place in a medium bowl and add 1/4 cup of the mayonnaise, the shallots, garlic, and cayenne and mash with a fork to blend. Add the chopped lobster tail meat and additional mayonnaise 1 tablespoon at a time to reach desired consistency. Adjust the seasoning, to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. (Salad can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.)
3. In a bowl, toss the mesclun with the olive oil and salt and pepper, to taste. Arrange across the bottom of on a large plate or platter.
4. With a thin, sharp knife, cut each avocado half lengthwise almost all the way but not completely through to the other end. Place each half seed side down on the lettuce and gently spread out into a fantail shape. Place the lobster-egg salad in the center of the two avocados and the asparagus spears around the sides of the plate. Top the avocados with caviar, garnish with the tarragon, and serve.

Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise:

• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Pinch freshly ground white pepper

1. In a food processor or blender, blend the egg and lemon juice for 10 seconds. With the processor running, slowly pour in the oil through the feed tube and process until emulsified. (Should the mixture become too thick, with the machine running, add water 2 teaspoons at a time.) Add the tarragon, salt, and pepper and pulse to blend. Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using. (The mayonnaise will keep tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours.)

Yield: about 1 1/4 cups

I made the Homemade Tarragon Mayonnaise first, moved on to the Egg Salad part, then stopped when lobster came into play.