Good morning, all! I am a first-timer with a garlic crop and everything is going very well. I have my first harvest of garlic scapes and don't know what to do with them. I'm finding a lot of recipes for pesto, pickled scapes and compound butter, but I'd like to do something more meal related. I guess I can just add them to my chicken or beef stew, but I just want to make sure I get the most out of them since I only have 17 scapes. Any ideas?
You can add them to anything you wish to ! Maybe a stir fry or sauteed with a nice steak ! Just use your imagination and have fun !
My absolute favorite thing to do with garlic scapes is make potato salad with them! YUM! Thanks for the reminder ... I need to buy some potatoes!
We will roast a chicken with garlic poked into the skin, stuffed with a whole onion. You can oil the skin for crispness but 180-200C (375-400f) more or less until the legs soften in an hour or so. BBQ chuck roasts in a similiar way if you wish but lower temp with sauces late of course. Sugar goes with pork but so does garlic so you may try a sugar cure (1:1 sugar and kosher salt) like a overnight rub and then use your garlic while you cook. Over an open fire a brushed on blend of mayonnaise and garlic gives spare ribs a nicely flavored protective oil for those long slow cooks.
Mmm. Sounds good. My brother-in-law just called and said he wants to know if we have any evening available to come for dinner. He plans on making a roast. Should I offer to donate these to his roast? I don't want to be selfish, but I kind of do at the same time. Tough choice.
Sure Beeker. Why not offer them, perhaps he will be delighted. On the other hand I can imagine you want them because you grew them. Oh yeah, I see the dilemma now. But, I am not sure if I understand—will your b.i.l. Come over and you will all share that roast dinner? If so, you could still enjoy your scapes. I bet they would go well with the roast.
I would think they might be a good substute for chives as well. Baked potato, sour cream and chives anyone?
I just harvested more scapes yesterday from the rest of my garlic and also my shallots. There are enough to both share and keep for myself. I have to use the shallot scapes first. I've got a lot of brainstorming to do for dinner.
We had some this week. I steamed them until tender, then let them cool. Chopped into half inch pieces and added about a cup of those to a big batch of chili. Not Texas chili - this was black bean, mushroom, and tofu chili - can you tell I'm on the West Coast LOL?
Well, my brother-in-law didn't want to use the scapes. I guess he was a bit intimidated by them since he is unfamiliar with them. I just don't know who knows what to do with them around here. I offered them to my neighbor, but she also respectfully declined. She is a very good cook and knows how to use the lesser known ingredients. I'm surprised she passed, but she's been going through some tough times lately. I've been using one or two at a time with my steaks and with fish. They really are a delightful touch. I have to say I think the shallot scapes are better on baked potatoes than the garlic scapes, but that is just my taste and opinion. It looks like it may be time to harvest the garlic. The leaves are getting quite brown. I'm getting excited...
Don't forget about broth. I will finish preparing a chicken and into a pot goes the carcass. I add garlic but there are many ways to make chicken broth. I strain it and freeze it. This week I will make a brunswick stew with it from the pulled pork we smoked on the 4th. I had gotten some T bones over the holiday as well, and since they were so thick I cut the steaks off and threw the bones in the pot. Same story, but I like onion with beef so less garlic. They get carrots and celery too, then all strained and the leftovers thrown into the compost afterwards.
