Shallow-fried veggies with aioli

Shallow-fried. The lesser known brother to the deep fry. Still "frying" something. Plus aioli, which is mainly made up of....olive oil. Whooooo fatty foods!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Clogged artery, here I come!!!



I recently received a cookbook titled "The Art of Simple Food" by Alice Walters. While browsing through the first few pages, I noted two things: One, a recipe for aioli, which is a garlic mayonnaise that is used sometimes in Spanish dishes (& I always immediately want to try anything & everything that might remind me of my time in Spain, or anything Spanish at all for that matter). Two, how to shallow-fry foods (important because I recently watched a video on making tempura veggies, which I love). My mind went "HEY! Bright Idea! Let's shallow fry some veggies that I have sitting around, & serve them with the aioli as a dipping sauce! Should be good!". Hahaha.

I set about making the aioli first, as it says that it should set for a 1/2 hour at least before serving. It should be noted before you make the aioli that you definitely use an egg YOLK not the egg white. My brain got all confuddled & used an egg white at first, it didn't turn out very pretty.

Aioli:

Smash 2-3 garlic cloves (I used 2 probably too large cloves...it was almost too garlicky) to a pulp (book said to use a mortar & pestle, which I don't have. I used a mixing bowl & the end of my pizza cutter (which is wooden & flat). This did not yield the exactly smooth garlic, it was still slightly chunky. But try to make it as smooth as possible). Add a pinch of salt to the garlic.

Add 1 egg yolk to a bowl (save the white for later!). Add 1/2 tsp. water. Mix. Add 1 c. olive oil, starting out with just a littlte bit & whisking continually. As you go, it'll thicken up & turn an opaque-y yellow color. Whisk & add oil until its all mixed in. Add garlic. Add spices & garlic & salt to taste. Refrigerate until serving.

NOTE: This makes a LOT of aioli. The book said its best used the same day you make it. Do what you will with that info.


Shallow-fried veggies:

For the oil, I used a mixture of clarified butter and olive oil. You may be asking yourself "What the heck is clarified butter & how do I buy or make it?!?!" Well, I don't know about buying it, but the book just said to melt butter (I used probably around 2/3-1 c. unsalted real butter (not margarine) on med. heat for about 10 minutes. You'll see some white stuff floating on the top. Strain that off (I spooned it off). Voila. Then just add olive oil to that until its ~1/4 to 1/2" thick.

Cut up veggies while the butter is being clarified (I used mushrooms, summer squash, red & yellow pepper, & onion. I also tried to use some cheese squares......I do not reccommend you try that. It doesn't end well). Sprinkle with salt & pepper & whatever herbs you want, & coat with that egg white that was leftover from the aioli.

Once the oil is ready, dredge the veggies through some flour (makes for a nice, very light batter coating), & fry for a couple minutes until they are done (NOTE: I had so many veggies, that I had to go through several rounds of the dredging/frying until everything was done).

Serve the veggies with bread & the aioli. :) I accidentally made wayyyy too much food for just my boyfriend & I, so sadly, a lot got wasted. So adjust accordingly.


What did I learn from today? Do not fry cheese...it doesn't turn out well. In fact, it just turns into a big slop of melted cheese. Less is more--use less veggies & less aioli next time, or serve for a larger crowd. The veggies were actually pretty good with the light coating. The aioli would have been better had it been not as garlicky, & maybe if a different olive oil was used (since its the main ingredient, the flavor of the oil sticks out).

Try at your own risk (of health and taste buds).