Garlic Scapes

We plant garlic in October the season prior and begin harvesting in July. In June, before harvest begins, some garlic varieties send up seed stalks – these are called garlic scapes. We cut them off to allow the plants to put their energy into growing big bulbs (and not growing the seed stalk) – but the benefits of cutting off the scapes are two-fold, as they are excellent to eat! They can be used like scallions, though some may find them too strong to be eaten raw.  They are crisp with a sweetness and incredible garlic essence. They are excellent roasted or sautéed with other vegetables. You can also coat them lightly with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and roast them on the grill or under the broiler.

Garlic Scape Pesto

• 4 garlic scapes (chopped into 1” sections)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese

In blender combine scapes and olive oil, drizzling in oil until you reach a consistency you like. Pour mixture into bowl and blend in cheese by hand. Great on pasta, pizza, sandwiches or as a dip.

A No Recipe Recipe

We all have our time honored meal choices, but sometimes we need a little inspiration in the kitchen. While the internet is overwhelmingly full of ideas, what we really enjoy is hearing from friends and members about their culinary creativity. We wanted to give a shout out to Catherine Stevens this week for sharing with us her no recipe recipe for CSA Soup.

CSA Soup

Making homemade soup is easy and the ingredients in this recipe may be changed to match whatever veggies were in your JSF CSA share and whatever you might have in your kitchen. Be creative, taste for seasoning as you go along and allow the soup to simmer to deepen the flavor. If you've never made soup before, please give it a try--it's so nutritious and delicious! Plus, homemade soup freezes beautifully and I have several types of soup in my freezer for those days when I get home from work and haven't planned anything for dinner. 

Ingredients:

• Olive or vegetable oil and, if you want a richer taste, a little butter
• Chopped/diced vegetables including onion, garlic, leeks, carrots, tomatoes (fresh, frozen or home canned), potato, summer squash, green beans, peas, turnip, kale, spinach, chard, cabbage, etc.
• Quinoa or rice or barley or noodles or small pasta (ditalini) or farro or cooked beans.

Basic instructions:

• Put a few tablespoons of oil in a dutch oven or soup pot and add the basics: chopped onion/leeks/garlic, carrot and celery. These are the "trinity" that create the beginning flavors in your soup. Cook, stirring occasionally, on medium until the onions are turning translucent. Don't let them burn.
• Add any of the other vegetables listed above and/or whatever you have; add vegetable stock (or chicken or beef) to twice cover the vegetables and simmer until the vegetables are cooked. At this point, taste for seasoning and add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and/or basil/and or other herbs you like. Add the rice/pasta/quinoa/beans and taste for seasoning again. Depending on the pasta/beans that you added, and depending on whether you like a thick soup or a thin one, you may need to add more water or stock at this point. Taste again for seasonings. 

Recipe: Cabbage Buns

This is a favorite in our family, handed down from Mark's Austrian great-grandparents.  Perfect for lunch or dinner, eat warm or cold, great for on-the-go - we even eat them for breakfast!

Cabbage Buns

Ingredients:

• white or wholewheat bread dough
• green cabbage, chopped coarse
• sweet or yellow onion, chopped course
• carrot, chopped coarse or shredded (can also use turnips, potatoes, peppers, most any veggie)
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional spices/additions: cinnamon, raisins, crushed almonds, hot or sweet sausage (ground)

Instructions:

Use any white or wholewheat bread dough recipe.  As dough is rising prepare the stuffing.
Saute onions on medium heat until soft. If using sausage, cook this next in the onions until nearly done, add cabbage and carrots on top, stir and continue cooking covered on medium heat until cabbage is soft but not mushy. Add in any other spices, raisins, nuts etc... at this time and mix completely. Let cool until not too hot to touch.

After dough has risen, punch it down and roll out with plenty of flour to keep it from sticking. Cut into 4"x4" squares.  Place cabbage mixture in center of each square and fold up corners to center, sealing all edges so stuffing is completely encased in dough.  Turn over onto a baking pan.  Arrange buns onto a baking pan as you would if baking cookies.  Bake at 350F until golden brown.