The Power of Pesto and Aioli
Monday, September 6, 2010
Terry Thompson-Anderson

Each year with the advent of spring and the rebirth of the herb garden I think of pestos and aiolis.  To me, as a chef, pesto and aioli are two of the primal ingredients in cooking.  If you’re in a hurry, but want a nutritious and flavor-packed meal, pick up your favorite meat, fish, or shellfish, and the freshest of vegetables from the market.  Grill, broil, roast, sauté, smoke, poach, or use whatever method you prefer to cook the protein.  Cook the veggies by a quick-cooing method that preserves their integrity, texture, and of course their nutrients.  Then whip up a zesty pesto or aioli in the blender or (preferably) the food processor to go with the protein.  Add a salad for which you’ve whisked together a nice herby vinaigrette, and dine royally.

Pesto and aioli lovers are also unanimously garlic lovers.  What’s not to love about the robust, in-your-face-taste of garlic.  If you have a favorite Farmer’s Market, then opt for buying fresh garlic from your favorite farmer.  For those of you who live near Austin, farmer extraordinaire, Marianne Simmons, owner of Onion Creek Farm in Dripping Springs, raises perfect garlic which she shares with eager fans at her weekly farmstand each Friday as long as things are growing.  (To get on Marianne’s market e-mail list and find out what she’ll have at the market, send her an e-mail at stellastardust8@yahoo.com.) Once you’ve used fresh garlic, you’ll never want the usually overblown, often shriveled, generally sprouting within a few days heads from the supermarket.

And on the subject of garlic in pesto, let’s don’t overlook it’s many other uses too.  Roasted garlic is one of my favorite wine snacks.  I love to put out roasted cloves of garlic in a bowl of good quality, preferably Texas, olive oil and some slices of good French baguettes or Italian ciabatta.  Guests drizzle the oil from the garlic onto the read, then squeeze out the sweet pulp from the clove, savoring its incomparable flavor with nuances of nut.  Another little trick is to slice large garlic cloves thin, then oven dry them in a low oven until they’re crisp. Then I season them with a remarkable new product from the Adam’s Spice Company, their Truffle Salt.  The salt is marketed under their “Adam’s Reserve” label and is available at H-E-B stores that have Cooking Connections.  (The entire Adam’s Reserve line is located at the Cooking Connection kiosks.)  Think of something as remarkable as tiny, garlic-and-truffle-flavored potato chip!  They’re great on salads, baked into bread dough, used in sauces or salad dressings, studded into meats before roasting, or dozens of other uses limited only by your garlic-infused imagination.  One of my favorite restaurants on the planet, Fonda San Miguel in Austin, Texas, created a dish that is all about garlic, Camarones al Mojo de Ajo (Shrimp in Garlic Sauce) in which a huge amount of minced garlic is gently fried until just crisp and served on seared shrimp.  The dish is sometimes served at the restaurant and the recipe is in their fabulous cookbook, Fonda San Miguel: Thirty Years Of Food And Art, a must for serious cook’s library.

But now, back to pesto and aioli!  Here’s a few of my favorites and some of their uses. When making aioli, you get the tastiest result from making your own mayonnaise, but if time doesn’t permit, try using H-E-B’s own brand Mayonesa, which is a rich, real mayonnaise that has a hint of lime added.  (Use it also for any other use where you would normally use plain mayonnaise,) Get out the kitchen shears and head to the garden for herbs, then prepare a few varieties of pesto and/or aioli and taste the bounty of spring.  By the way, pesto freezes well.  You can divide it into meal-sized portions and freeze it in those nifty little-bitty storage containers available at the supermarket. 

Garlic and Cilantro Pesto

This great pesto is a dynamite party food when served with pita wedges.  The spread can be made days ahead of time – in fact it gets better after a days respite in the ‘fridge.  It’s also the perfect topping for grilled (medium-rare, please) lamb chops and broiled, pan-seared, or grilled salmon (wild-caught) fillets.

Makes about 3 cups.

4 bunches fresh cilantro, washed and dried well
2 bunches of fresh mint
1/3 cup minced raw garlic
¼ cup skin-on sliced almonds, toasted
½ cup minced jalapeno
1 cup red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon red (cayenne) pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more depending on consistency desired
Pita breads, cut into small wedges for dipping

Combine all ingredients except pita breads in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Process until smooth.  The mixture should be fairly stiff and spreadable.  If you prefer a looser consistency, add additional olive oil.  Turn the mixture out into a serving bowl and place in the center of a platter.  Arrange the pita bread wedges around the spread and serve.

Basic Basil Pesto

Basil pesto has at least a million uses.  It can, of course, be tossed with your favorite pasta for a quick and easy entrée.  It can be used to stuff roasts.  Cook it with shrimp and serve with pasta, or skewered as finger food.  Spoon it on tomato halves and roast for a tasty side dish.  Just let it play out in your imagination!  The spinach in this recipe is listed as optional, but I really like it in the mix – adds a little “mystery” to the finished taste!

4 garlic cloves, peeled and trimmed
1-1/2 cups olive oil
12 whole walnuts, shelled and toasted
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
3 cups fresh basil leaves
3 tablespoons boiled and chopped fresh spinach leaves, optional
4 ounces grated Parmesan cheese, preferably imported Reggiano Parmesan
4 ounces imported Romano cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

With machine running and steel blade in place, drop the garlic cloves through the feed tube of the food processor to mince.  Stop and scrape down the side of the bowl.  Add ½ cup of the olive oil and all other ingredients to the processor bowl.  Process until smooth.  Add the remaining olive oil slowly through the feed tube with machine running.  The pesto should be smooth with olive oil well blended.  Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Cilantro and Mint Aioli

This new and different aioli combination is great on grilled lamb chops, or roasted or grilled leg of lamb and also on grilled or broiled fish fillets.

½ cup packed fresh mint leaves
½ cup packed fresh cilantro leaves and tender stems
2 tablespoons fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
¾ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 green onions, sliced, including green tops
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup homemade mayonnaise or mayonesa (lime-flavored mayonnaise)

Combine all ingredients in work bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade and process until herbs are very finely minced and mixture is smooth.  Refrigerate.

Ginger-Wasabi Aioli

This zesty aioli with the heady blast of wasabi is not as spicy as it may seem, but packs a huge whollop of great flavor.  Use on grilled fish or red meats.
1 cup homemade mayonnaise or mayonesa (lime-flavored mayonnaise)
1-1/2 tablespoons wasabi paste
2 teaspoons Oriental Chili Paste with Garlic
2 teaspoons sesame oil
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
2 green onions, roughly chopped, including green tops

Begin by making the Wasabi Mayonnaise.  Combine all ingredients in bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade.  Process until smooth; refrigerate until ready to serve.

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