Sauce Aïoli

Happy Friday the 13th to all of you!  In honor of such a superstitious day, I am going to talk about the garlicky goodness that is Sauce Aïoli.  This is a french-style dipping sauce that is, essentially, garlic and olive oil.  It's amazing.  It will keep vampires at bay. (Take THAT, Kristen Stewart!  She's a vampire by now, right?)  It's also hard work, not gonna lie to you.  You will get one heck of an arm work-out by making this, but it's totally worth it and you can reward yourself later with a leftover cupcake.

SAUCE AÏOLI

1 thick slice french bread, crust removed

(I used one half of a Thomas-brand bagel and scooped out the soft part)

3 T. milk

6 cloves garlic, grated

(Grating the garlic is a super short-cut.  Traditionally, you would take the whole clove and crush it into paste using a mortar & pestle)

1 large egg yolk

1 1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

Soak the soft bread in milk for about 5 minutes.  Then lift out bread and squeeze out as much milk as possible.  You will be left with a really unappetizing lump of doughy mush.

Mix wet dough with grated garlic using the tines of a fork.

Using some serious muscle, whisk in your egg yolk to the bread/garlic mash-up.

Now comes the fun part.

Add olive oil one drop at a time.  Go slow.  Fully incorporate each small part of oil before adding more.  Start out still using the fork.  Really mash it all in.  It's important to go slowly.  If you add too much oil at the beginning, the sauce can separate.  That means that your sauce will look all curdled and nasty.  When the sauce becomes creamy, you can start going a little faster with the oil additions and can switch to a whisk.  After all of your olive oil has been added, squeeze in the juice of one lemon and whisk to incorporate.

Aïoli is really good as a dip for sweet potato fries.

Toss sweet potato strips with about 2 T. olive oil and a hefty pinch of coarse salt.  Bake at 425°F for about 15-20 minutes, or until crispy.

Aïoli is also delicious when added to ground turkey to make burgers. 

Add about 1 T. sauce to 1 lb. ground turkey.  Season with 2 t. chipotle pepper flakes, handful chopped peanuts (about 1/4 c.), and a couple handfuls of shredded asiago. 

ENJOY!!