Sweet Potato Fries and Garlic Aioli

I wrote an article about planting garlic the other day and I started thinking about garlic and then I started craving one of the favorite snacks/appetizer that Marisa and I love.

I love sweet potatoes in any form, baked, mashed, but one of my favorite ways to cook them is by making homemade fries and eating it with garlic Aioli. The first time Marisa and I had this we were in Jackson Hole at a hoity toity restaurant and we loved them. Here is the recipe.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 medium sweet potatoes cut in to 1/2 to 1/4 inch strips.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Rock Salt

Preheat oven to 450
Toss Sweet Potatoes in a bowl with oil and salt
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil and line it with Sweet potatoes in a single layer
Bake for 20 minutes on lower rack of oven.
Turn potatoes with spatula
Bake for 10 more minutes on top rack in oven or until crispy

Garlic Aioli

6 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 egg
1/2 cup olive oil
pinch of salt

Heat olive oil in saute pan over medium heat
Add garlic cloves to oil and cook until light brown and soft
Allow garlic and oil to cool down
Add garlic cloves, egg, lemon juice and salt to food processor or blender and puree
Add cooled olive oil to food processor in a slow steady stream and blend until emulsified.

Hint: make sure you allow olive oil to cool to room temperature before adding to food processor so you don't cook the egg.

The sweet salty potatoes and the rich garlic aioli go together perfectly. You might think that you died and went to heaven.

Mike

Fall Planting: Garlic

One of the things that I love about gardening is that it never ends. Even as fall approaches and we start seeing some of our plants dying we can still start preparing for next years harvest. Gardening teaches us about planning for the future, and not getting everything we want now. It shows us what our hard work, and natures gifts can bring. Gardening is a hobby of hope, building on the failures of past, anticipating the harvest of the future. Gardeners always look forward, not forgetting the past, but seeing the past as a stepping stone to future abundance.

Winter is on the horizon here in Utah but it is still a good time to prepare for next year. Start thinking about what you want to grow. I am excited for Marisa and I to get a property (which I think will happen soon) and the first thing I will plant this fall is garlic. I just ordered my garlic bulbs from the seed savers exchange.

You can plant garlic in the spring but if you want bigger better garlic, it is normally better to plant them in the fall. The best time is between September 15th to November 30th while the soil temperature is around 60 degrees F. Most of you still have some time before you buy your garlic seed bulbs and plant them but it is not a bad idea to prepare the soil now.

Garlic is pretty hardy, but you can improve your chance of success by preparing the soil and choosing the right spot to plant. Find an area in your garden that gets plenty of sun, with soil that is not too damp. Till your soil now, add some of the compost from your compost heap, and work it in. Most areas are still warm enough where the soil will have a chance to break down the compost even further, getting it ready to nourish your garlic as it springs to life next year.

Most places that provide garlic seed (which are just cloves of garlic prepared for planting) will provide you with instructions on how much room to give each clove and how deep to plant them. If you are interested in companion planting you can plant garlic next to beets, cabbage, and lettuce as it is said to improve the flavor of beets and it is a natural pesticide for aphids and other pests that threaten lettuce. Keep garlic away from potatoes, peas. and legumes.

We will post next year on when and how to harvest garlic. In the meantime start planning all of the wonderful meals you will eat with garlic to accentuate your fresh vegetables.