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My New England Lobster Rolls feature fresh lobster tossed with a light coating of lemony mayonnaise and some chopped celery for crunch.

I'm a big believer in the "Cook Once, Eat Twice" school of thought. Because of my busy schedule, when I cook dinner, I often make enough food to be able to have leftovers the next day. But rather than serve the same dish two days in a row, I like to transform the leftovers into a completely different meal.

For example, if you read my last post, you would know that I recently picked up some beautiful lobsters that were on sale at my local fish market and made a hearty pasta dish with them. Check out my Pappardelle with Corn, Lobster, Pancetta and Crème Fraiche.

But what I didn't mention was that I actually bought enough lobster to last for two meals. What did I do with the extra lobster meat? Well, I decided to make one of my favorite classic lobster dishes- New England lobster rolls.

I've had many lobster roll cravings- there's something about the sweet, tender lobster meat in the warm, buttery roll that gets me every time.

Now I know that there's a lot of debate as to what the best lobster roll recipe is. Some purists simply put steamed lobster in a buttered, toasted bun with no mayonnaise or other accoutrements. I however, prefer my lobster rolls with a light coating of lemony mayonnaise, some finely chopped celery for crunch and Boston lettuce to keep the bun from getting soggy.

When making a dish with such few ingredients, it's really important to use the best quality ingredients. So, this afternoon, I decided to make my own mayonnaise. Once you know the technique, mayonnaise is actually not too difficult to make and the flavor and texture just can't be rivaled by the store-bought variety. In culinary school, making a good mayonnaise was actually part of our practical exams!

Mayonnaise is simply an emulsion of egg yolk and oil with a bit of acid added to it, usually vinegar or lemon juice. You can add other flavorings like Dijon mustard, fresh herbs and dried spices to suit your taste.

I like to add a small amount of Dijon mustard to my mayonnaise because in addition to imparting a tangy flavor, mustard is also an emulsifying agent, and helps to hold the mayonnaise together.

With any mayonnaise, the most important thing is to make sure you add the oil very slowly in the beginning, drop by drop while whisking constantly. If you don’t do this carefully, your mayonnaise will break. If you're pressed for time, you can make mayonnaise in a blender.

For this recipe, I decided to go with the classic pairing of citrus and seafood and ended up making a yummy lemon chive mayonnaise that complemented the sweet lobster perfectly.