Garlic Scapes

Garlic Scapes

What the heck is a garlic scape?? So many garlic growers are missing out on the delicious flavor of these healthful plants!
Scapes are the flower stalks found on all members of the Allium family (onions, leeks, chives, and garlic). In garlic, the scapes curl as they grow, and ultimately straighten, and then grow a little seed-like bulbous. Garlic producers remove the scapes to enhance bulb development and unwittingly discard them instead of delighting in their unique flavor. My Uncle Paul, who grows the best garlic I have ever tasted, gave me 87 cloves of his own to grow this year. They are coming up beautifully by the way. He also introduced me to the joy of garlic scapes at a family dinner. He simply chopped them up, soaked them in oil with a little salt and we dipped our bread in the mix. YUM! I was hooked. We wont have our fresh garlic scapes ready until approximately the end of May, but what a treat they will be!

Facts about Garlic Scapes:

• Number one they are far to over looked in their gastronomic delight!
• When the scape is curly and new that is the time to cut, usually late May-early June. That is when the scape is tender and flavorful. If one waits too long to cut the scape, like after the seed pod has developed it will be tough and not so tasty.
• Garlic scapes are milder in flavor and never reach that full hot spicy delight of a fresh clove of garlic. So for those of you who love garlic but still want to have a date sometime in this life, garlic scapes will be your new best friend.

Eating Pleasure:

• Garlic Scapes can be used in a number of ways, don't fear the snake like green curls! Just chop them up, they are nice and tender so they go great in a stir fry, risotto, frittata, casserole, soup, you name it. The possibilities are endless.
• Garlic scape pesto is a very common use so here is a very simple recipe I found in the Washington post.

Garlic Scape Pesto
Ingredients:
1 cup garlic scapes (about 8 or 9 scapes), top flowery part removed, cut into ¼-inch slices
1/3 cup walnuts
¾ cup olive oil
¼-1/2 cup grated parmigiano
½ teaspoon salt
black pepper to taste

Method:
Place scapes and walnuts in the bowl of a food processor and whiz until well combined and somewhat smooth. Slowly drizzle in oil and process until integrated. With a rubber spatula, scoop pesto out of bowl and into a mixing bowl. Add parmigiano to taste; add salt and pepper. Makes about 6 ounces of pesto. Keeps for up to one week in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

**Schmear this over roasted chicken with a delicious orange, beet, and arugula salad and a glass of a North Fork sauvignon blanc... yummm that's definitely on the menu as soon as our scapes are ready! (approx. end of May)

Orange and Beet Salad Recipe Ingredients

• 1 bunch of beets, leaves removed about 4 or 5 medium sized
• 2 large navel oranges, peels removed and sliced into rounds
• 1 bunch of arugula leaves, cleaned, and any thick stems removed
• Several thin slices of red onion
• optional 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (left over from your pesto)

*All ingredients can be found at the Fresh Egg Farm Stand :) I am sure I will see you soon!

Cheers to all your exotic Local cooking adventures!