Beached Whale

The title pretty much sums up how I feel. A friend of mine took me to the most authentic Mexican “restaurant” you can find in the Bay Area for dinner tonight. Her coworker’s backyard. We strolled through a residential area, parked our car outside the house, and walked straight into this family’s backyard for some darn tasty tacos. We both ordered 3 tacos — steak, pork and lengua (mmmmm. tongue….). I wasn’t completely full and wanted another lengua taco so another one I got…Why do I torture myself so?

On a better note! Ever since I went over to my friend’s house where her and her husband (the ones that met at La Folie) made us dinner, I’ve been DYING to have his recipe for garlic aioli. And I finally got it!! OMG. If you like garlic, you’ll LOVE this. It’s made the old school way with a mortar + pestle and requires some muscle, but it’s DELICIOUS…and you’ll get a strong forearm.

My friend says that by smashing the garlic, the oils are brought out more than if you chop it up in little bits. 1 clove of garlic crushed in a mortar + pestle tastes like 10 cloves chopped in the finished product.  It’s SUPER garlicy so if you want it less potent, chop it instead of mash it.

Final product. If you’re lucky enough to try it and love it, I will share the recipe with you.

When they sent me home with leftovers last time, I had smoked salmon in the fridge so I toasted some of her homemade bread, spread some of this garlic aioli on top and added smoked salmon. It was to die for. Now i just need to ask them nicely for their bread recipe too.