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Garlic Scapes and Artichokes


Physibeth

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So I just peeked at what is going to be in my produce box for next week so I can do some meal planning and I am getting garlic scapes and artichokes.

 

Is garlic scapes just an herb that I could use like garlic or is something different? Ideas?

 

Anybody have easy artichoke recipes? I always get flustered with artichokes and never end up using them until they are bad. Sad puppy because I love artichoke. I'm getting 4 so I need an easy idea or 2.

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Garlic scapes are a green thing that pokes out of the top of garlic. Its tast. Think of a chive or green onion. They form a bulb at the end when they are mature and then can be planted. My mom always does that with some of her planted garlic.

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Lol..just didnt want to get a PM asking me if I know how to get chokes out of teeth. ;0) Walking across the street to buy some beautiful looking artichokes. I am going to roast them in my slow cooker tomorrow. I'll let you know what the result is.

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Lol..just didnt want to get a PM asking me if I know how to get chokes out of teeth. ;0) Walking across the street to buy some beautiful looking artichokes. I am going to roast them in my slow cooker tomorrow. I'll let you know what the result is.

LOL! Do let me know how they go in the slow cooker...that seems like way less work and energy usage to me. :-)

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Garlic scapes are also sometimes called garlic spears, and they are AWESOME.  No, they're not like the green thing that sticks out of normal garlic, they are actually the flowering top of hardneck types of garlic like elephant garlic. They are cut off by growers to encourage better bulb growth.  I never heard of them until I moved to Portland, as they are more common in colder growing regions (I'm from SoCal). I discovered them for the first time about 5 years ago. Their season is pretty short so I scour the farmers' markets and devour them like crazy in June!  They also carry them here at New Seasons and other upscale markets.

 

Found a great article with recipe ideas, but they taste great just sauteed with olive oil and salt n pepper.  So good!

 

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/06/the-crisper-whisperer-what-to-do-with-garlic-scapes-recipe.html

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Crockpot experiment finished and I was so disappointed. 4 hours on high. I put a couple of cups of liquid. They looked beautifully done. I couldn't eat any of the leaves except the ones way on the inside. They were big artichokes but not jumbo. I would have let them go another hour or two but the heart was very done. Grrrr..

I saw that a few others had the same issues with several of the recipes. I want to blame it on the artichokes. I didn't go to the shi shi store across the street. I just went next door. They were on sale and looked a little tired but still....

I may give roasting a try.

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Physibeth, did you roast your artichokes?  I have some in the fridge that I think I am going to roast tonight but I have to figure out what to dip them in which will be hard because I can't have ghee or homemade mayo being in AIP.  :(

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I won't get my artichokes until Wednesday morning. I think I'm going to roast them Saturday afternoon but not sure yet. Just found out I'm going to get a flat of Strawberries on Wednesday too. Guess I'll be spending an evening processing those soon.

 

Jinkse I think Nadia posted an avocado based AIP friendly mayo in the AIP thread so you may ask her. 

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I think garlic scapes are what we call garlic chives (not really chives). They are used in a lot of chinese dumpling filling recipes, I make a filling (Whole30 safe ingredients only) and cook the "meatballs" in chicken broth. A bit like dumpling soup, I love them best with pork, but they're good with chicken too. Or just make a stir fry :)

 

Pesto sounds good! Haven't tried that yet :)

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I second homerfrizzell's recommendation for garlic scape pesto (minus the parmesan cheese for W30 of course). 

 

I also use garlic scapes in my version salsa verde (green sauce).  It's basically olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest and whatever herbs in the fridge that are starting to go manky (parsley, cilantro, green onions, basil, capers, garlic scapes) whizzed up in the food processor or blender.

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I LOVE garlic scapes!  They make a great addition to stir fry, tomato-based sauces, and anything that you'd normally put garlic in.  It has a lighter, fresher flavor than garlic and I love the little crunchy bits!  

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I also love garlic scap pesto, if you are not sure how to do it here goes, scaps  and cashews in the food processor, pulse a few time then turn it on and add the olive oil trough the top, no reg garlic needed you can also add some basil or other green too if you like!  its really yummy on fish. 

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I love to grill artichokes. Prepare them like you're going to steam them, but steam them fairly briefly, maybe 10 minutes instead of 20 - 25. Let cool until they can be handled. Cut in half lengthwise. Carefully scrape out choke, don't hurt the heart! Brush with olive oil and garlic. Grill for 5 - 10 minutes on each side until nicely charred.  

 

Delicious!!!!

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I finally got around to cooking my garlic scapes last night.  I was going to grill them but then I became to lazy to deal with the grill.  :ph34r:   I cut them up into about 1" pieces then sauteed them with rainbow swiss chard, onion, garlic, EVOO, and a little bacon fat.  Yum!  Probably didn't need to add the garlic!  I tasted a raw piece of the scape and it was like biting into a garlic onion!  Cooking gave it a milder flavor.  I'll definitely have to try pesto if I find the scapes again!

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