Well have no fear, over the course of the year, my job is to find cheap, easy and tasty recipes for you to enjoy.

Food was never my strong point I was raised in a family of five sisters, so I never needed to cook (only wash dishes). My sisters seemed to be magicians in the kitchen, creating meals I thought I could never replicate.

Fast forward to this summer, I began my culinary journey as a mere dishwasher. However due to staff shortages, I soon found myself in the savory forefront, being trained on line in a fine Italian restaurant and being mentored by an exceptional chef, who developed his skills in Staletti, Italy. Well, not to toot my own horn, I turned out to be pretty good.

Despite my proficiency, I found working in a kitchen you tend to lose your appetite. After preparing, handling and serving food all day, you don’t want to look at food, let alone cook yourself a meal. Despite this, it is common knowledge that people have to eat and I am no exception. For a hasty, delicious and incredibly easy meal, I favour the sandwich. Not just any sandwich though; the classic bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Now I have not met a person that would turn down a good old B.L.T and most of you could manage combining the ingredients without further instruction. What I propose is taking the ‘good old’ up a few notches from delicious to absolutely delectable. Below I provide a recipe for an Aioli spread to replace the common mayonnaise one would normally use which will give this classic a new kick.

An aioli is like mayonnaise, just with more punch. The added flavours can range from seafood,to simply garlic and oil. Here is a basic roasted spring onion aioli.

Step 1.

First grab some mayo, garlic, green onions, salt and pepper, lemon juice (you can use squeezed lemons or the concentrate), a mixing bowl and a whisk (you can also use a fork).

Step 2.

                  Slice onions rather fine, put the onions on a oven friendly pan, bake them until they brown slightly, about fifteen minutes at 350 degrees F.

Step 3.

Mince garlic as fine as your knife skills allow you to. I usually crush the clove, then proceed to slice ’N’ dice. Once the garlic is minced to your satisfaction, sauté in a pan with a little olive oil. The reason for doing this is that there is a property in garlic that if you do not sauté it for about 45 seconds, whenever you burp, you will taste garlic.

Step 4.

Once everything is sautéed, roasted and ready, mix everything together. Add lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste. 

Depending on how much you will use this aioli, it will definitely determine how much you want to make.  So to start off make a small amount, so for about as much as you would normally use for two to three sandwiches, I would use half a clove of garlic and two to three sprigs of green onion.  The amount of mayo depends all on you. Some like a lot, and some like a little. If using a little cut everything in half.

Enjoy, this is one of my favorite spreads. With more on foods next week I am Robert Thomas.