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First, figure out how many vegetables you need to serve your guests.
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Then, for the vegetables, sit down in a garden chair with a bottle of rose or pastis, a cutting board on your knees, and a good paring knife.
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Throw the peels straight into the garden.
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To make the aioli, combine the oils in a measuring pitcher.
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In a food processor, combine the potato, egg yolks, egg, and as much of the garlic as you like and process until smooth.
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(Potato is added to the traditional aioli for texture; you can also use bread that has been soaked in milk.)
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With the motor running, slowly drizzle in the combined oils.
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The mixture should emulsify with no problem.
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Keep a glass of warm water handy, however, in case the mixture splits.
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If it does, immediately add a spoonful or two of the water, pulsing as you add.
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When all of the oil has been added, season with salt and pepper.
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To finish, add the lemon juice.
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Refrigerate until serving.
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To make the dip, in a small saucepan, combine the cream and anchovies and simmer over medium-low heat until the cream is reduced by one-third.
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Bring the heat down to low, and, using a hand blender, blend in the garlic and oil.
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Using a hand whisk, delicately whisk in the butter a few cubes at a time.
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The mixture may break and split.
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If it does, add an ice cube and whisk again.
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Season generously with salt and pepper and serve warm.
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If the weather is chilly, keep the dip warm on a fondue warmer on the very lowest setting.
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Serve the vegetables along with the garnishes of your choice in a nice bowl or arranged on a platter along with the dip and aioli.
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I AM FORTUNATE TO SPEND A FEW WEEKS of each summer in the small town of Keremeos in the Similkameen Valley, in the interior of British Columbia.
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It is beautiful and hot, and has good wine and great farms.
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Not too hippie, not too the man, but just right.
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A guy named Yuri and his wife farm there, growing (among other things) the best Russian garlic: big, red, and curved like the roof of the Kremlin.
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Its what I imagine opium must feel like to touch, sticky and rich.
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You can shave it like you would a truffle.
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I buy a few hundred bucks worth of it every year and I keep it at home and not at the restaurant as I dont think I have the self-control needed to politely explain to a cook that you dont half-assly fill your stockpots with it.
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I dont get high like that on produce often; in fact it irritates me when others do it.
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So I guess Im using my wild card here.
