All in the Technique

One of the things I like best about cooking, and expanding my cooking horizons is the realization that it all really comes down to some fundamental techniques and knowledge of how flavors combine. Once you start to learn those things, you can create anything your little heart desires. So I'm always excited to learn a new technique and start to see how I could use it a million different ways. Today's challenge was an aioli that contributed to some pretty amazing shrimp tacos.

This aioli was built around another find from our trip to Long Island - some fun flavored grape seed oils. They had a toasted pumpkin seed, walnut, lemon and this citrus cilantro. I'd been noodling around for ideas to use it and kept coming back to some sort of shrimp dish. Regular old fajitas, one of my standby dishes, didn't seem quite special enough so I had to up my game. Enter aioli - which, when you come down to it is just mayonnaise taken to a whole other level. In fact, a lot of fish and shrimp taco recipes I looked at today use mayo as a base and just add flavor, but I was determined to start from scratch and incorporate that flavored oil.

I've tried to make fish tacos before and they were just eh. I now realize that the aioli was the missing thing - it adds a creamy bite that compliments the slaw that is a key component of most fish tacos. Now that I've mastered the idea behind an aoili, I am bursting with other ways to use it. I think fish and shrimp tacos will now be in heavy rotation because this really was outstanding. I thought the sauce was too hot at first, but once it's on the taco with the cabbage and avocado and everything else, it was prefect.

A quick aioli step-by-step. Place all of your flavoring ingredients and acids in a blender, along with the egg yolk(s).


















Whir everything up to combine. Mine kind of exploded, but never fear, it still worked out just fine after I scraped it down.

Next, drizzle in your oil while the blender does its thing, and then season to taste. And voila - a creamy lovely aioli. The ratio of oil seemed to be somewhere around 1 yolk to 1/2-1 cup of oil. Really, it's up to you to get the consistency you want and the flavoring options are endless. But it's a great sauce to know.

















Shrimp Tacos with Citrus Cilantro Aioli
Mollie's Collection

For the aioli:
1 small Serrano pepper
3 cloves of garlic, pealed
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp cumin
Zest and juice of one lime
1/3-1/2 cup citrus cilantro grape seed oil (or substitute another flavored oil)
Salt & Pepper to taste

For the shrimp tacos:
12 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined (I like smaller ones for tacos)
Juice of 3 limes, divided
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Tbs of citrus cilantro grape seed oil
1 small head of cabbage
Thinly sliced red onion (optional)
2 medium avocados
salt & pepper to taste
5-6 small flour tortillas

Combine all the aioli ingredients up to the oil in a blender and pulverize. With the blender running at high speed, slowly drizzle in the oil until you get your desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper and reserve in the refrigerator. Best made at least 1 hour ahead to let the flavors fully combine. (Note: I didn't have any fresh cilantro on hand, but that would have been a great addition as well)

Combine the shrimp and the juice of 1 of the limes with the cumin and oil. Stir to coat and combine, and let sit in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. In the mean time, shred your cabbage and set aside. Cube your avocado and combine in a small bowl with the juice of the other two limes and season with salt and pepper. Stir and smoosh until desired consistency - I like mine chunky.

Cook the shrimp in a saute or grill pan until just opaque. To assemble, start with a flour tortilla, topped with cabbage, then the shrimp, ailio and avocado mixture. Bite and enjoy.

Served with sauteed black beans, but that's a story for another post...

Note: My Serrano pepper was from the garden - I had about a dozen all ready at the same time and could never use them fast enough, so I froze them. I took off the stems and chopped them up in the food processor, and then divided them into the sections of an ice cube tray and topped with chicken broth. To use, either dump the whole cube into sauces, or thaw under cold running water in a small strainer to remove the broth and add to your dish.