Dan Lasiy, who was my sous chef when I was at Duo, just opened Rebel Restaurant in the bustling River North neighborhood. Dan called his restaurant Rebel for a reason: he aims to do the kind of food you don’t already find everywhere in Denver: so no tuna tartare or big steaks or roasted beet salads, and instead unexpected and delicious preparations of things like whole roasted lamb’s heads and Beef Tongue with Beer and Cheese Sauce and a salad with pickled plums and Green Goddess Dressing.
One of the best dishes I ate at Rebel were potatoes that had been slow-cooked in fat and then smashed and caramelized on the griddle. The potatoes were garnished with spring onions and a deeply flavored aioli created with black garlic, a Chinese condiment that is made by slowly cooking whole heads of garlic until they are thoroughly caramelized. Dan rightly calls the end product “an umami bomb.”
It is delicious on potatoes, but it makes a great sauce for grilled steak as well.
Black Garlic Aioli
Makes about 1 quart. Note: black garlic can be purchased at any Asian supermarket.
Ingredients
1 black garlic bulb,cloves peeled
3 egg yolks
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 quart canola oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
With the back of a knife, mash garlic cloves with small amount of salt against a cutting board until a fine paste of black garlic is formed.
In a blender or food processor, add mashed garlic, egg yolks, a pinch of salt and rice vinegar. Replace lid and turn food processor on. Slowly drizzle all of the canola oil into food processor, being careful to not break the emulsion. If emulsion seems like it is breaking, add a few drops of cold water. Turn off blender and check seasoning. Add fresh ground black pepper and more salt or a few more drops of vinegar if needed and blend one last time to incorporate pepper and added seasonings. Transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator until needed.
