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I use Nigel Slater's. It rarely fails me.

large free-range egg yolks - 2
olive oil - at least 300ml
half a lemon

Break the yolks up. Now pour in the olive oil very, very slowly at first, almost drop by drop, stirring as you do until the mixture starts to thicken. If you get impatient and add the oil too quickly you will never get it to thicken, believe me.

Once you have a small amount of thickening mayonnaise you can turn up the speed a little, adding the oil in a long, thin trickle, stirring all the time. Stop when you have a thick mayonnaise. It need not be so thick you could cut it with a knife, but it should be well on the way. Squeeze the lemon juice in at the end, still stirring. The colour will fade, but should be almost crocus yellow.

I'd follow a basic recipe (like NicholasRidiculous writes), and be sure to add enough salt (a plentiful ingredient in store bought mayonaise). I also sometimes add a bit of dijon mustard, but salt is really key to a flavorful mayo. Also, I usually end up just making an aioli by adding a clove or two of garlic paste (chop garlic, add coarse salt, scrape with a heavy knife blade against the cutting board until totally pulverized).

Olive oil makes a pretty strong mayonnaise. I use canola oil and a small amount of olive oil for flavor.

A stick/immersion blender and a tall narrow container eliminate the need to drizzle. The mayo comes together in a flash.

I'd go with the aboslute basics and then add the mustards, garlics, juices and vinegars in larger amounts if you think you need more flavor.

And remember, hand made mayo doesn't keep but a couple days.

often commercial mayo has a lot of sugar (or high fructiose corn syrup) if you want yours to taste more 'authentic' add some sweetener-sugar, honey, etc.

Herve Thís wrote in his book Molecular Gastronomy that we often use too much egg yolk and not enough water (vinegar) in making mayonnaises. His experiments showed that one egg yolk could make several liters of mayonnaise and that all that was "necessary" was but a drop of yolk for most homemade recipes.

That said, I kind of enjoy the yolkiness of homemade mayo -- I think that is the difference between my mayonnaise and Hellman's. So, if you want to replicate Hellman's, my suggestion is to use less yolk -- that will make it paler and less "eggy." Mr. Thís suggests adding water or vinegar by the spoonful if your emulsion isn't coming together, as this is the more common cause of mayo-failure.

Dominic
the zen kitchen

Wipe your bowl with paper towel before you start so there are no traces of oil.