Holy Aioli

When I first moved to Austin in the early 90’s for my year-long sabbatical from San Antonio to write my Master’s thesis, I can still remember the time my friend took me to Hyde Park Cafe. This was her old stomping ground while attending UT (The University of Texas) and she had to introduce me to their famous French fries and the special Hyde Park sauce. These fries are so ridiculously fabulous, they have been named the city’s best fries since 1995 by Austin Chronicle readers.

A Kicked-Up Mayo

The “special sauce” is basically an aioli–also known as a kicked up mayo. And a damn good one. Despite the fact that I only had this treat that one time, the flavor combination has never waned. Crispy, slightly battered fries that have just the right amount of grease and salt on them, dipped into this luscious and garlicy mayo. How could you ever forget something as incredibly perfect as this sexy combination?

Since I make my own homemade mayonnaise, I figured it was time to make an aioli, which is mayonnaise with chopped garlic. Many recipes called for adding garlic to mayo, but that’s not what I envisioned. I want the full experience of making aioli. Though not by hand, as many recipes want you to do so the aioli doesn’t “break” (that’s what you call it when the egg and oil separate). I wanted to make an aioli with a blender (or food processor).

I guarantee that this easy recipe is fool-proof and your aioli will not separate. But here’s the trick–if and only if you drizzle the oil slowly, super slowly and even slower than you thought possible. If you do that, you will, like me, be totally thrilled with your results.

What should you make to serve with this velvety aioli–other than French fries? That answer will soon follow.

Buen provecho!

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Aioli

Once you make an aioli, you'll want to spread it and dip it on everything. It's super easy to make, but be patient when drizzling the oil in the blender. Go slowly. Very, very slowly.

Course Condiment

Cuisine Italian

Keyword aioli

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 8

Author The Cowgirl Gourmet

Ingredients

• 1 large pastured egg at room temperature
• 1 large pastured egg yolk at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup grapeseed oil
• 3 cloves garlic chopped finely
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, add the egg yolk, egg and mustard and set aside. Let these ingredients meld for about 10 minutes.

2. Peel and chop the garlic very fine. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon salt over the garlic and, using the back of your knife, crush it all together so it becomes almost like a paste.

3. To the blender or food processor, add 2 teaspoons lemon juice with the egg and mustard mixture.

4. Now, here is the trick. I used a 1/4 cup size measuring cup so I would be cognizant of drizzling the oil slowly. And the 1/4 cup fit just inside the removable top to the blender so I could use this also to minimize the splashing effect.

5. Fill the 1/4 cup with grapeseed oil and turn on the blender. Drizzle e-s-l-o-w-l-y. Just keep a thin line of oil drizzling in at all time. This will take at least a minute to drizzle each 1/4 cup. Then fill the 1/4 cup with oil three more times and drizzle slowly...leaving the blender or food processor running the entire time.

6. Before long, you will have a gorgeous mayonnaise. Add the garlic-salt paste, black pepper and 2 tablespoons lemon juice and blend until smooth.

7. For the best tasting aioli, store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.