I had never been to a Grand Aioli before, until this past Sunday, when The Wine Country owners Randy and Dale hosted the best barbecue I've ever been to.
A Grand Aioli is a Provencal outdoor feast featuring Rose and a garlicy sauce called Aioli. Along with the Rose wines and Aioli is a feast of seasonal vegetables and meats.
Here is but a small sampling of the Roses and other wines opened during the night. I think there were over 20 different Roses, along with some red Rhone wines, some Cali-Rhones, and some whites.
Above is Amy's pretty tomato salad, made with Dales own home-grown heirloom tomatoes, then topped with capers, olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and other goodies.
Above is the boneless leg of lamb that was cooked on a spit. Delicious!
And here is the tender roast chicken, alongside some perfectly roasted potatoes.
To the left is a plate of roasted vegetables, which includes carrots and cauliflower. To the right, a flavorful and zippy chick pea salad made by Samantha.
And some more legumes, these made by Bennett. These were some tasty and unique beans that melted in one's mouth. I'm going to have to get these bean recipes from Samantha and Bennett! What great summer dishes. And healthy too! I think!
Look at these beets. I don't recall having had golden beets before. They were my favorite. None of that pink bleed one gets with the regular red beets. And so full of beet richness.
I love cauliflower so when I saw these roasted heads, I was beside myself!
And finally, here is the very yellow Aioli sauce. I thought Aioli would be the color of mayonnaise (white), but little did I know, it is the color of curry. I thought it was from mustard, but it is actually from egg yolks, and the slight green tinge is from the olive oil. That's some potent sauce! But the perfect pair with that glass of rose.
What a summer party. Now that's doing it in style!
3 comments:
Nancy,
Really great pictures of the party....thank you for not including the boozy one-eyed faces of those in attendance!
It was not my first Grand Aioli but every time I go to one I think it is so freaking cool. Great food, some of my favorite wines and man do I love me some garlic goo. I tried amny of the other wines with the food but Rose was it, hands down a better match.
Spent yesterday recovering....
THANK YOU RANDY AND DALE!!! We all had a blast
Thanks, Sam, I was happy the pics turned out and showed how gorgeous and fresh all the food was!
I think the Grand Aioli is a great party idea and I think everyone should have one this summer! Buy a bunch of Roses, gather up some fresh veggies and some lamb and/or chicken, and invite all your neighbors.
Indeed, thank you Randy and Dale, for showing how it is done!
That looks like entirely too much fun! Yes, garlic goo is almost god-like. Another great match for rose is the OPPRESSIVE heat & humidity of Memphis in the summertime. Its way too easy to guzzle down a bottle of a fresh, lively, dry rose when you are sweating your butt off.
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