Many years ago, I was invited to dinner with a friend’s parents at an upscale restaurant off campus. After a long drive through the icy, pitch-black Vermont winter night, we arrived at the gravel lot of Black Sheep Bistro. It was the nicest restaurant I’d ever been to and even now, over 15 years later, I can still smell and taste the chips.*
The chips were long and skinny, presented in an elegant paper cone of white parchment placed in a metal stand, such an elevated experience that one might even feel compelled to call them pommes frites. In place of ketchup were two types of aioli, garlic and basil.
Prior to that night I was horrified at the notion of anything but ketchup near my chips; the idea of dipping them in something creamy such as ranch dressing or, even worse, a DQ Blizzard, was unconscionable to me. The chips at Black Sheep changed everything: the delicate creaminess of the aioli emulsion combined with the crunch and salt of hot fried potato. Their synergy was undeniable.
I still love ketchup on chips, and I can relate to my daughters when they want their ratio of ketchup to chip to be 1:1 (in fact my 3 year old would quite happily forgo the chips and eat the ketchup on its own). But the aioli - chip combination was calling my name.
Now in lieu of deep fat frying potatoes at home, I had to come up with a proxy crispy, salty potato item. I have written about smashed potatoes here before and those would also be delicious here. In this instance I parboil matchstick new potatoes, then roast them at high heat with lashings of olive oil.
For the aioli, I decided on a hybrid of the garlic and basil aiolis offered by Black Sheep bistro and settled on an olive oil base with wild garlic. Wild garlic has a fleeting moment here in the UK but when it is available it’s delightfully light and pungent, intense and delicate all at once. In this instance it makes for a flavourful, verdant aioli that pairs perfectly with oven chips made with the equally seasonal Jersey Royal new potatoes.
*note: it’s officially happened, my brain has updated its software to British English and chips came to mind before french fries. It only took 13 years.
Ingredients
For the oven chips:
1 kg (2.2 lb) new potatoes (I used Jersey Royal)
60 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
For the aioli:
6 leaves wild garlic (~8 grams)
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon lemon zest
Juice from ½ lemon
1 egg
1 egg yolk
200 ml olive oil (you can use a neutral oil if you like, such as canola, but I like olive oil best)
Method
Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F)
Cut potatoes into small matchsticks: Cut lengthwise into 3-4 slices. Laying slice flat on cutting board, cut into 1cm wide pieces, once slice at a time. They do not need to be perfectly uniform - this won’t be possible with baby potatoes but try to keep them approximately the same size.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Salt generously.
Once water is boiling, add potatoes. Boil for 1 minute. Drain immediately, and set over the sink or bowl in a sieve/colander to ensure all water is removed.
Once fully drained, transfer potatoes to a baking sheet. Add ¼ cup olive oil. Toss to coat. Place in the oven. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, turning the pan halfway through.
While chips are roasting, make your aioli.
Place egg, egg yolk, salt and lemon zest in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend. With lid on and motor on high, add olive oil in a very slow stream (see photo below). It is important to add slowly to be sure you achieve a good emulsion.
Once you’ve added all the olive oil, add the wild garlic and pulse until finely chopped and distributed.
Remove chips from the oven once crisp and brown at the edges. Sprinkle salt over the chips and toss to evenly distribute. Serve immediately, with wild garlic aioli for dipping.
