WELCOME TO MY NEW MONTHLY RECIPE NEWSLETTER
Hello!
Welcome to my very first monthly recipe newsletter. Some of you have seen my cooking videos in my Instagram stories and I wanted to turn those into something a bit more substantial. Each month you will be getting a new recipe with photos, and often a video tutorial, too. You might also notice some footnotes in the recipes where I’ll share specific brands that I use. Knowing when to splurge a little on great ingredients can make a huge difference in your cooking. The recipes will mostly be pretty simple; what I really want to do is invite you into my brain and show you how I think about food and cooking!
The newsletter is free for now, but at some point I will start to charge a small amount to subscribe because this is a lot of work! Anyways, I’m really excited to share my ideas and recipes with you all so let’s get started.
Up first is: LE GRAND AIOLI.
LE GRAND AIOLI - serves 4 people
I made this for my mom’s birthday last week and thought it would be a really nice place to start. This dish is so impressive looking and really so simple to prepare. I also always feel really proud that I ate like 10 different vegetables. This dish is basically a bowl of aioli with lots of accompanying things to dip into it - cooked and raw vegetables and maybe a protein or two. You can take this dish in so many directions - use up any vegetables you have, any proteins, and you can even play around with flavoring the aioli.
AIOLI - yield: 1 cup
Most simply, aioli is mayonnaise with garlic in it and I am very serious about my mayonnaise. It can be soooo freaking good, or just sad - too loose, not enough salt, not enough acid, not properly balanced. Making great mayonnaise takes practice, but properly balancing and seasoning a mayonnaise is a really good exercise in learning to listen to your palate and trust your instincts.
Please enjoy my video tutorial:
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
3 small or 2 medium cloves of garlic (you can grate the garlic, but it doesn’t really matter unless you’re whisking by hand)
2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1
2-3 tablespoons vinegar and/or lemon juice - ideally white wine vinegar, lemon juice, or I will often do a mix! Start with 2 tablespoons and add more as needed2
1 tablespoon water, or more as needed, 1 teaspoon at a time
1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 cup oil - you can either do all neutral oil such as sunflower, canola, grapeseed, or other vegetable oils. OR I often like to do 3/4 neutral oil, and then finish the last 1/4 cup with a really nice olive oil
Optional add ins - capers, anchovies, roasted garlic, smoked paprika, whole grain mustard, chopped herbs like parsley, tarragon, chives, chervil, basil. You might want to add something like smoked paprika, parsley or anchovies at the beginning before you start blending in the oil so they’re completely blended in to the aioli. Other ingredients like chopped capers, tarragon, or whole grain mustard could be folded in at the end for a more subtle flavor or to add texture.
First, DO NOT MAKE AIOLI IN A BLENDER. It blends too hot and too fast and it usually splits. It’s just not a good idea for beginners. You can totally whisk your aioli by hand, but I usually use an immersion blender or food processor.
If making with an immersion blender I recommend either using the container it came with, which is tall and narrow, or a jar or measuring cup that is slightly larger in diameter than the head of the immersion blender.
Start by placing your yolk, garlic, dijon, vinegar/lemon juice, water and salt in the cup. Blend this together and then slowly drizzle in your oil to start the emulsion. If you go too fast the mixture won’t be able to emulsify and it will start to separate, or break. If you go too slow your mixture may heat up as a result of blending for too long, which will also cause your emulsion to break. Try to stay somewhere in the middle (watch the video for a visual!). Once you get going you can drizzle in the oil a bit faster. If the aioli looks thick and oil slicked as you drizzle in the oil, try adding a little water, about a teaspoon to start, maybe a bit more if needed. Be careful with how much liquid you add because if you add too much your aioli will be too loose. If your aioli looks like it’s about to separate you can quickly bring it back together with a few drops of water.
Finally, once you’ve added all of your oil, taste the aioli. Maybe close your eyes so you can really listen to your gut and ask yourself - is this delicious? Are you smacking your lips because it’s just right? If not maybe it needs a bit more salt, or a bit more vinegar. Try a little at a time, a small pinch of salt or a couple drops of vinegar or lemon juice, mix well and then taste again. What changed? Is it delicious now? When I season a dish (with salt + acid) I listen to the YUM in my brain, and when I hear it I know it’s seasoned properly.
THINGS TO DIP INTO THE AIOLI
PROTEINS
Flat iron steak, simply seasoned with salt and pepper and cooked in a pan with a little neutral oil to medium rare
Poached shrimp w/ cocktail sauce * I’ll save this recipe for another time
Boiled eggs w/ anchovy *recipe below
Other great options are - roast chicken, grilled lamb chops, tinned fish, roasted fish, pickled fish
RAW VEGETABLES
Peeled and halved carrots
Cleaned sugar snap peas
Endive leaves
Radicchio, quartered, core removed, and leaves pulled apart
Cucumber cut into long wedges
Other vegetables to serve raw: cherry tomatoes, lettuce leaves, radishes, fennel, etc.
BOILED VEGETABLES
There is something so comforting and satisfying to me about well boiled vegetables. Boiled vegetables are not exactly fashionable, but I find them to be quite delicious when done right. The key is the proper ratio of SALT : TIME. People usually don’t salt the water enough, so please follow my water-salt ratios for perfectly seasoned veggies. Also, test your vegetables for doneness. Try them at 30 seconds, 1 minute, 1 1/2 minutes until they’re just right to you. Some vegetables like zucchini or broccoli do best a bit al dente, while others like green beans need to be cooked a bit longer to get rid of their squeak.
FOR A SHALLOW 2QT POT:
7 cups water + 1/4 cup kosher salt. If your pot is bigger, scale up salt and water accordingly.
2 small-medium sized zucchini, cut into batons
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends cut off
Other boiled vegetable options could be: snap peas, green beans, Japanese sweet potatoes, fennel, artichokes - please note that for vegetables that take longer to cook like sweet potatoes or artichokes you can cut back on the salt as they will absorb too much during their longer cook time.
Bring water to a rolling boil and then add your salt. Blanch each vegetable one at a time, starting with the zucchini. Blanch for 1 minute, then taste a piece. Does it need another 30 seconds? Taste again. When ready, remove zucchini with tongs or slotted spoon, drain well, and allow to cool in an even layer on a sheet tray. This step will prevent the vegetable from overcooking and losing its bright green color. Alternatively, you can shock the cooked vegetables in an ice bath, but I find that cooling them in an even layer is good enough for home cooking.
Now you can reuse the water for the next vegetable. Allow water to come back to a rolling boil and drop in your asparagus spears. blanch for 1 minute, then taste. And repeat the same process as the zucchini. Continue with this method if cooking other vegetables.
BOILED POTATOES + EGGS (together, in the same pot)
2 lb fingerling potatoes
8 cups room temperature water
5 tablespoons salt
2 eggs
Place your potatoes, water, and salt in a 4qt pot. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Once simmering, gently lower your eggs into the pot and set a timer for 8 minutes for a just-set yolk. After 8 minutes remove the eggs from the pot and place in an ice bath or run under cold water. Peel and halve eggs and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Gently drape an anchovy3 over each half.
Start checking the potatoes for doneness when the eggs come out. Using a paring knife pierce through the largest potato, you are looking for basically no resistance. Try cutting one in half and tasting it. My potatoes took about 30 minutes from the time I put them on the stove. Drain the potatoes and allow to cool to room temperature.
In addition to serving raw or boiled vegetables, you can roast vegetables like potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, or fennel.
And then plate it all and dig in!
I am very much interested in any feedback you may have. Was this too long? Was it clear? Do you care about all the tiny details of what goes on in my brain while I cook or do you prefer a more bare bones recipe? Enough photos? Do you need more visual? Would you pay me $2 next time for something similar?
THANK YOU FOR READING!
DIJON MUSTARD - I prefer Amora or Edmond Fallot or Maille. I do not like Grey Poupon.
VINEGAR - I LOVE UNIO MOSCATEL VINEGAR, it is less acidic than regular vinegar, more flavorful, more balanced. Otherwise I often use Napa Valley Naturals vinegars, which are totally good enough.
ANCHOVIES - I love - Ortiz and Callol Serrats L’Escala.
I subscribed after I read the words “ Hello! Welcome to my very first monthly recipe newsletter.”
Honestly….amazing! Everything is clear and perfectly explained and so enjoyable to read. It makes me want to eat it and most of all cook it. I can’t wait for the book! It’s exactly what I need when I cook anything new. The video tutorial is perfect. Thank you!!!