Recipes for Cook

I had sweet potato fries two times this past weekend. Well, three if you count the ones that I made. Oh, and I ate a different aioli with each batch. Ive learned two important lessons from these meals:

1.) Mayonnaise and sweet potatoes are delicious together.

2.) I look really good next to sweet potatoes. Theres no good explanation for it, its just a fact.

So, feeling inspired (and beautiful), I decided to make my own variation on sweet potato fries. I also made my very first mayo, which I turned into a flavorful saffron aioli. Im basically a God.

First, scrub your potatoes. Or not. Look, you can be as disgusting as you want. No one is watching. After you have/have not washed your taters, its up to you whether you want to peel them. I didnt, as a lot of nutrients are in the skin, plus I feel like the skin allows the fries to hold up better. Again, no one is watching. Whoopsy, did you drop a potato on the floor? NBD, just put it back in the bowl. Thats right...

After you have/have not washed and have/have not dropped it on the dirty floor, cut it into strips. Theres really no rhyme or reason as to how you should cut them, but since Im making fries, I tried to make fry shapes. I like to live life on the edge. On the edge of glory, that is.

In a bowl, drizzle some melted coconut oil (about 1 Tbsp per potato) on the fries, and add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Mix em around so theyre well-coated and transfer to a cookie sheet. Try to spread them into one layer, with a bit of room.

Hopefully youve pre-heated your oven to 450 degrees, because otherwise, youre gonna have to wait around for a while before you can pop these bad boys into the oven for 20-25 minutes. Bad planning on your part dude. Bad planning.

While those bake, start making your aioli. I made the decision to make this by hand (read: my arm nearly fell off by the time it was done), but Id recommend using your electric mixer. A food processor isnt a great idea, unless youre planning to double or triple the batch.

Start by soaking a small pinch of saffron in a Tbsp and a half of warm water.

Do that part first, because youll need it to soak in the water for about 20 minutes. 

In the meantime, combine two egg yolks, a small clove of minced garlic, and a quarter tsp of salt in a deep bowl. Then, verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry slowly, like, slow enough you almost dont wanna bother, drizzle 3/4 cup of olive oil into the egg mixture, whisking vigorously all the time. This process will take anywhere from 8 to 15 minutes, depending on whether youre using a hand mixer or whisk. 

Once it looks like mayo, and youve added all the oil, add the saffron water to the mixture, along with a squeeze of fresh lemon (dont skip this part), and add a grind of black pepper. Whisk that shit together and then refrigerate your aioli for a few hours before serving.

This is my new favorite snack, paleo or otherwise. You will NOT be disappointed. Well, I guess you might be disappointed, but if you can be disappointed by mayonnaise, you dont have enough to worry about in life. Looks like somebody needs a hobbyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!