Last night I had a friend over after work. We drank a couple of beers and talked about food and cooking. He is going to come over next week to spend some time with me in the kitchen, I am going to teach him how I make some of my favorite dishes (yes, there will be pics and posts!).

I had him try some baby potatoes with garlic aioli – a recipe that I made out of a Tapas cookbook I picked up this weekend – and he just about fell over. It’s a dead-simple thing, making aioli, but getting the proportions right is the key.

This morning I woke up thinking about that aioli, and how would it taste if I subbed out the garlic for green onions? I let the thought simmer on the back burner of my mind while I took care of some housekeeping and decided to try an Experimental Recipe.

Extracting the Green Onion Flavor

The most important part of this experiment, for me, was getting the most flavor out of those fresh green onions. They are one of my favorite garnishes, with such a lovely green flavor and lightly pungent aroma.

I took five of them, cut them down to 2″ lengths, and put them in the NutriBullet with a 1/4-cup of water and about a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh-ground peppercorns (I am using a blend of Black, Pink and White peppercorns right now). I pureed this for about 40 seconds, making sure all of the stems were broken down.

The result was an intensely green onion-flavored froth with an amazing aroma.

The second step was to get some of that extra water back out of the puree. I put it into a small pan and reduced it on low heat for about five minutes, stirring gently to release the air. When it began to look more ‘liquid’ I took it off the heat to cool down to room temperature. I also stirred in one tablespoon of Champagne Vinegar so it could start working on permeating the onion puree.

Mixing Your Aioli

Puree:
• 1 tablespoon champagne vinegar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 5 Green Onions
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large egg yolk
• pinch of salt
• 5 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 4 tablespoons Canola Oil

Separate the yolk from a large egg and put it in a small dish to warm up to room temperature. When the yolk and puree are right, add them together in a mixing bowl with a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of lemon juice and whisk.

Note: When I initially made this I did not include the lemon juice. When I tasted the finished product I found it needed a little more ooomph, so I whisked in the lemon juice… Boom! Perfect.

Once the sauce has achieved a creamy, uniform consistency, start drizzling in your olive and canola oil while whisking briskly.

Serving Ideas

I had some blanched veggies left over from the other night’s dinner so I used them for dipping:

I have to say that it is simply amazing with the asparagus and the snap peas.

Give it a try, I’d love to hear what you think.