Saturday, August 4, 2007

Holy Aioli...what a disaster

I was leafing through cookbook that was a gift that I've never looked through before with any interest (In Great Taste: Fresh Simple Recipes for Eating and Living Well by Evelyn Lauder) and I came across a recipe for basic aioli. I thought, "That might be a nice condiment for the salmon burgers I'm making tomorrow."

So how can you screw up egg, garlic, lemon juice, EVOO, and dijon mustard? Let's just say all it came out as was a watery version of dijon mustard. Oh my god... it was so gross that I just poured it down the drain.

And P.S. ... is aioli even supposed to have mustard? I thought it was just egg, lemon, and EVOO??

1 comment:

Laura said...

Ahhh, happens to us all, don't give up!

Yeah, don't know what the mustard deal is. The egg acts as an emulisifier..so you diddn't need it for that. You have to combine the ingredients *just right*, or else they will break. Also, I wouldn't trust any recipe for aoli from a healthy living book. lol. This is my tried and true classic for the stuff, give this one a try:


6 fresh garlic cloves
1 large egg or 2 egg yolks
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

Place the garlic cloves in a food processor or blender and mince. (Or you can do it by hand.)

Add the egg and process briefly.
With the processor running on low, very slowly pour in half of the olive oil.

Add the lemon juice.

Gradually pour in the remaining olive oil and process until the mixture thickens and emulsifies.

Transfer to a small bowl; add salt, pepper, and any other seasonings of choice. (Salt, pepper, and cayenne is excellent.)

Cover and chill well.