May 19, 2006

Homemade aioli

I finally got to release a little sigh of relief today. A particularly important and time consuming assignment from my huge stack of work was done and handed in. I came home today; eager to make something from scratch for dinner! Inspired by this weeks Donna Hay magazine, I decided to make use of some lovely baby coliban potatoes I purchased.
For dinner; we had toasted turkish bread with melted Brie topped with Parmesan crumbed chicken and grated cucumber salad. I spread a good layer of aioli on the turkish bread before popping it under the grill. It was a delicious combination! As a side dish; I washed and cooked several baby potatoes in the microwave until partially done. I then squashed the center of the fairly soft potatoes with my thumb and sprinkled a generous pinch of sea salt and oregano. I gave it a light brush of olive oil and then popped it under the grill together with the turkish bread!
For a formal explanation of the term aioli from Wikepedia: "Also called allioli — aĂƒÂŻoli (French spelling) or aiĂƒÂ˛liProvenĂƒÂ§al aiet ("garlic") and oli ("oil"), pronounced [eye o li'] — is a cold sauce made of garlic, egg, acid (lemon juice or vinegar), and olive oil, basically a garlic-flavoured mayonnaise." It is pronounced ai-lio-li. It seemed like a mouthful for me a couple of years ago, but after having this yummy dip several times around Sydney; it eventually came naturally to me.

3 egg yolks
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
11/2 cup good quality olive oil
Blend yolks, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice until smooth. Gradually add olive oil in a thin stream while processor is running and beat till smooth and lemon-ny in colour. You should get a thick and fluffy icecream-like mixture when its done. Serve it with roasted potatoes, toast, or as a dip for bread sticks! Its good to have a tub in the fridge when you need to jazz up a quick sandwich.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Su, Love all the cakes you made!it looked so cute!
Btw, you mean the yolks are beaten and eaten raw in this sauce? Thanks~

John said...

Be sure to pasteurize your eggs before using the raw yolks to make mayo or aioli. It's easy,To pasteurize an egg, fill a medium saucepan 3/4 with water and bring to 150 degrees using a candy or frothing thermometer to ensure accurate temperature control. Add egg and maintain 150 degrees for 5 minutes. Gently stir water to ensure uniform temperature. When done, cool the egg in cold water. The egg is now safe to eat raw.
http://cooking-fresh.blogspot.com/2009/05/heavenly-aioli.html