Green garlic aioli

With buttery potatoes, fava beans, and juicy asparagus to drag through it

🌟🌟Thanks kindly for giving a ♥️ to this, on the top left or bottom of this post! It helps get the word out to others🌟🌟

---

This is a reader-supported publication and would not be possible without YOU. I am so happy you’re here, and hugely grateful to all who choose to support my work with a paid subscription.

Other ways you can support my work? Follow me on Instagram, get my books and gift them to your loved ones - A Year at Catbird Cottage makes the perfect gift for Mother’s Day! If something here inspires you please leave a comment. Each of these makes my day, and also helps get the word out about Stories from Catbird Cottage. Thank you! xo Melina

Good morning, and welcome to today’s installment of Stories from Catbird Cottage! My parents arrive tomorrow for a much awaited visit. The plan is for all of us to unwind, commiserate, and also celebrate my mother’s birthday (and of course, Mother’s Day). The time is precious and reuniting always feels like coming home. True to every visit, we plan a lineup of delicious sustenance - first on the list will be a roasted chicken with lots of burnished veggies and pan jus, a meal to sate us all on the eve of their arrival. Next will include today’s featured recipe, slathered onto all kinds of things. I’ll be sharing our daily eating adventures in Notes this coming week, so if you’re interested in some family faves, keep an eye out! :)

With nearly a week of constant rain here, everything has grown bonkers lush. I am over the wet - there’s so much to do outside, plus the garden blooms were just beginning their magic displays (hello sweet lilacs), only to be weighed down by endless saturation. Since I have no control over the weather I am focusing on inside projects, a laundry list of tasks to complete for parents’ arrival. That being said, today will be short and sweet.

But first…
With Mother’s Day right around the corner, here are some menu ideas to make her day wonderful, and one she won’t soon forget…

1. Creme anglaise + roasted rhubarb

2. Silky saffron morel + pea pasta

3. Seafood pasta with garlicky dill cream sauce

4. Wild salmon + fried sage gremolata

5. Shiitake mushroom escabeche frittata

6. Double orange French toast with Chantilly cream

7. Salmon + spring veggies with tarragon Dijon mayo

8. Ginger-scallion cucumber + chickpea salad

9. Roasted rhubarb fool

Today’s recipe is equally special, and one you can make when you only have a little time. Have you ever made aioli? There is a beautiful spring tarragon aioli dish and a Le Grand Aioli platter in my book, each perfect for showcasing warmer weather fare. Aioli is a supremely versatile sauce, simple to make, and endlessly riffable. Once you have the foundation down, you can add ephemera of the moment to take aioli in any direction you please.

More ideas…
saffron
soft herbs such as tarragon, dill, cilantro, or chervil
black garlic, field garlic, or ramps
lemongrass
Calabrian chile or Gochujang

For purists, aioli gets emulsified by whisking by hand - an excellent arm workout and the means to control the rate of building the sauce. But as noted above, I am short on time and needed something delicious, fast. This method employs a hack to deliver exactly that.