This week’s box has me primed to cut those slender little crookneck squash (what happened to the zephyr squash of years past?) into long strips and dip them into the aioli made from the recipe below. Also all those cherry tomatoes, rounds of cucumber, strips of red pepper …. and maybe boiled eggs with those popular “jammy” yolks? Sometimes I’m tempted to use olive oil in aioli, but olive oil can be bitter (there’s lots of good info on the internet about that) so the suggestion for grapeseed oil or canola oil that came with this recipe when it was published in the Washington Post is good, but I’ll be using Oliver Farms sunflower seed oil instead.
This recipe calls for steady whisking, but I’m going to make mine in a food processor.
Ingredients:
2 large egg yolks 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 2 cloves garlic, minced or finely grated 1/2 cup grapeseed or canola oil 1/4 cup olive oil 4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon) Fine sea salt Freshly ground black pepper
Preparation:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, mustard and garlic. Whisking constantly, add the grapeseed oil, one drop at a time, until the mixture thickens. Unfortunately, you cannot speed this up or your aioli will break so take your time, whisking all the while. It will take about 4 minutes. Once the mixture becomes thick, start adding more oil, including the olive oil, in a steady stream, whisking constantly to incorporate. Add the lemon juice in 1-teaspoon increments, whisking constantly. The aioli will be pale yellow and thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper and transfer to a small serving bowl. (If you’re making the aioli more than 1 hour in advance, cover and refrigerate it until ready to serve.