Catalan Style Aioli Food

EASY ALLIOLI, CATALAN GARLIC SAUCE RECIPE

Steps:

• Roast the whole bulbs of garlic at 200C/Gas Mark for 30 minutes, until they feel soft to the touch. Allow to cool
• Peel the bulb and cloves: scrape the soft roasted garlic into the bowl of a small food processor, add pinch of salt and pulse for a few seconds scraping the sides down as you go.
• Add the egg and lemon juice, and blend together for a few seconds.
• Continue blending, and slowly drizzle in the oil, stopping from time to time to scrape the sides down.
• Once thick with a mayonnaise like consistency check the flavour and add a little more salt if needed.

SPANISH ALIOLI GARLIC MAYONNAISE SAUCE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Peel and mince the garlic.
• Using the flat side of a large knife, crush the garlic.
• Place the crushed garlic into a small mortar and pestle, add the salt, and smash into a paste. (An alternative to save time is to use a good garlic press that peels and mashes the garlic in one step. Either way, you can use a mortar and pestle to mash the garlic into a paste.)
• Crack the eggs and separate the yolks into a small mixing bowl.
• Transfer the garlic paste to the bowl and whisk to blend.
• With a hand mixer on low speed, slowly pour in the olive oil in a very thin, steady stream until a creamy sauce begins to form.
• Add the touch of lemon juice slowly at the end, while keeping the mixer on to ensure that the sauce stays smooth.
• Serve with fish, as a condiment for your favorite sandwich, or as a dipping sauce for French fries. Enjoy.

CATALAN FIDEUà

Steps:

• Make the broth: Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and sauté until softened and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add small shrimp, garlic, hot pepper, fennel, coriander, bay leaf and thyme. Season generously with salt and pepper, stir to coat and cook 2 minutes more.
• Stir in tomato paste and cook 5 minutes, until mixture begins to look dry. Add fish bones, clams, 1 pound mussels and 8 cups water; cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
• Strain through a sturdy mesh sieve into another pot, pushing on solids with a wooden spoon. Discard solids and keep strained broth hot. Taste for salt. Broth should be well seasoned. (Can be made ahead, though eat it within 24 hours, or you can freeze it.)
• Make the fideuà: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Put fideus noodles in a large roasting pan or baking sheet. (If using Italian pasta, break it into 2-inch lengths first.) Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil over noodles and toss with hands to coat. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, turning with tongs if necessary, until noodles are golden brown. (May be done in advance.)
• Place a cazuela or wide heavy pot on the stove. Add toasted noodles, pressing down a bit. Ladle 3 cups hot broth over noodles and bring to a boil. Push down on the noodles with a wooden spoon as they soften into the broth. Add saffron-infused water and cook for a minute, then stir to mix. Add enough hot broth to cover pasta by 1 inch. Lower heat and cook at a simmer for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more broth (and adjust heat) if mixture dries out.
• Scatter remaining 1 pound mussels over the top, then push them down until barely submerged. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, until shells open. Turn off heat. The noodles should be cooked but firm, and the mixture a little soupy.
• If using the large shell-on shrimp, season them and sauté in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat for 2 minutes per side.
• Ladle into individual soup plates. Mix the parsley with the orange zest. Garnish fideus with shrimp, if using, the parsley mixture and a spoonful of allioli.

AIOLI

Steps:

• In a large, very clean mixing bowl, combine the egg yolk, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Whisk for about 30 seconds by hand, until combined.
• While whisking, drizzle in a few drops of olive oil. After a few seconds of whisking, the olive oil should be incorporated, so start drizzling in a little bit more. Generally speaking, the slower you add the oil, the thicker the aioli will be. After the first few drops, I start adding the oil in a light stream. It should take about 60-90 seconds total to incorporate the olive oil.
• Once the aioli is thick and creamy, taste it and make any necessary seasoning adjustment.
• The aioli is best served within 24 hours, but is good for 4-5 days in the fridge. You can enjoy it spread on a sandwich like Chicken Cordon Bleu Panini or Croque Madame, with potato dishes like Crispy Smashed Potatoes, or with roasted vegetables like Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus. Enjoy!

BULLINADA (CATALAN FISH STEW WITH AIOLI)

Steps:

• In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Add onions, stirring occasionally, and cook until they begin to soften, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly golden, 1 minute.
• Stir in saffron, and pour in fish stock and wine. Add potatoes, fennel seeds, orange peel, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and cook for about 25 minutes, until potatoes are tender.
• Season fish with salt and pepper. Remove orange peels from soup and add fish. Cook, covered, over medium-low heat until fish is opaque and flaky, 4 to 14 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets. Using a metal spatula or knife, break the fish into chunks.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, lemon juice, remaining garlic and Aleppo pepper. Slowly stir in a ladle of hot stock into mayonnaise mixture. Gently stir mayonnaise mixture into simmering soup. Heat through, without reaching a boil (the mayonnaise will curdle). Stir in parsley and taste, adding more salt if you'd like. When serving, garnish with more parsley and Aleppo.

CATALAN STYLE AIOLI

Steps:

• Garlic cloves in your mortar, add a pinch of salt, and start pounding with the pestle. Pound and mash the garlic and the salt with the pestle until you obtain a very fine and smooth paste. This step is essential for binding garlic and olive oil properly with mortar and pestle. If your garlic paste is not smooth and fine enough, the aioli will tend to break much easier. Now, while you stir the mixture with the pestle in one hand, start adding the olive oil very slowly, almost drop by drop. Stir constantly until you obtain a thick paste.