Line Caught Sweet Potato Waffle Cut
- Aioli
- 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pimenton (piment d'esplette preferred)
- Pinch of saffron threads
- Sweet Potato Frites
- 1 pound sweet potato peeled
- 2 cups peanut oil
- 1 cup rendered lard (see note to cook)
- Fleur de sel
- Finely chopped parsley (optional)
- If you are total cro-magnon you can make this with mortar and pestle. If not, a good blender, something on the order of KitchenAid, makes a fine aioli. Chop the garlic and place it in your blender with the egg and kosher salt. Depending on your blender speed, hit "mix" first. Stop, and then with speed set at "stir" gradually drizzle the olive oil in through the cap at the top of your blender. This will take a minute or so before it becomes mayonnaise.
- Spoon the aioli into a bowl. Using a fork beat in the pimenton and pinch of saffron threads. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use.
- Using the "crinkle" edge of the mandolin blade, slice the sweet potato, as many slices as you desire.
- Heat the oil to about 370?, checking temperature with a candy thermometer.
- Work in batches. Place the waffle sliced sweets in the web of a spider (hah!) and deposit into the hot oil which will bubble up immediately. The slices will float to the top. Watch them to make sure that they don't burn. Scoop them out in a single batch with the spider and lay the spider and its contents on a rack to rest for two to three minutes. Promptly return them to oil to finish, about 1 minute more. Watch like a hawk.
- Scoop out the slices again, and depending on how you are presenting, place them on a plate, in a bowl or whatever lined with paper, parchment or naked. Season with fleur de sel and parsely if using.
- Repeat with remaining slices, first rechecking the temperature of the oil.
- Serve with your preferred condiment.
- Note to cook: I prefer to use leaf lard, which I render in a cast iron skillet. The skin makes nice cracklings and leftover lard can be refrigerated indefinitely and used for pastry. Manteca is an acceptable but not necessarily desirable alternative. It has a pretty strong aroma along the lines of tortilla chips.
extra virgin olive oil, egg, garlic, kosher salt, piment, threads, sweet potato, peanut oil, lard, parsley
Taken from food52.com/recipes/1656-line-caught-sweet-potato-waffle-cut (may not work)