garlic scapes - you eat them or compost them

[tjg911]

i've read how people eat their scapes and i'm confused why.

i cooked them 5 minutes - ZERO taste. ok, maybe i over cooked them and all the volatile oils were cooked out.

i cooked them 1 minute - ZERO taste, hummmm

if eaten raw BY THEMSELVES they have flavor. the cut end is mild but as you progress to the top they get hotter... some are wicked hot!

but here's the odd thing, combine the chopped RAW scapes into something bland like rice and olive oil - no taste!

i assume everyone elses' scapes are the same so other than eating them raw by themselves why bother?

tom

[jhp]

I didn't try eating mine. There were extremely garlicy smelling and juicy when I snapped them off, so I put them in a spot where some animal kept digging by my beans. The digging stopped immediately. I've seen them at farmers markets and wondered how exactly to use them. It's strange that they would have no taste. Maybe use them raw in salad or something, because mine were very pungent raw.

[PNW_D]

Interesting to see this post, as I made my first visit of the year to one of our local farmers markets on Wednesday, and almost every vendor seemed to have these for sale. Should have paid more attention to those explaining how best to cook them, but it seems I recall a quicky stir fry ...... or was that for the bitter greens

[tjg911]

scapes cut on saturday are getting tougher despite they are the same size, length and at the 1st curl than scapes cut 2 weeks ago. since i stopped watering them 2 weeks ago maybe that is why. they are just fibrous enough to not worth eating.

i continue to eat them raw (those cut over past 2 weeks) and the cut end is still mild and they get hotter as you progress up the scape. the last 2" are too fibrous to eat.

tom

[Tania]

We eat scapes and love them - raw crushed and left in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes really brings the 'garlicy' flavor, I use this in lettuce salads extensively. Alternatively, they are good stir fryed lightly in butter until the color turns dark green - we use these as a substitute for asparagus.

Yummm. Now I gotta go and get some scapes for breakfast before they get tough.

[supergirl]

I've cut them up and put them in stir fries, as Tania does. Not a super-stong flavor, but a nice crispiness.

Maybe try pesto, if you want some flavor. I did it just like making basil pesto -- olive oil, parmesan, pine nuts, S&P, and scapes instead of basil, no need for extra garlic. I didn't cook them first, and the pesto was too strong and garlicky for me. Sort of the antithesis of your "no flavor" problem. My husband heated it up, and that seemed to mellow it out. I've also seen some recipes for them with scrambled eggs.

Here's a link to a lot of scape recipes that I pulled some of mine from: http://weblog.clagettfarm.org/2005/0..._scapes_r.html

[Miss_Mudcat]

We eat them raw. I can't remember that I cooked with them. The raw ones definitely have a nice, strong flavor. Hmmm... wonder if it's the variety? I make Pesto and hummus using raw scapes. The Pesto calls for 1/4# of scapes, which is about 10. The hummus only needs about 2 or 3. PM me for recipes if you're interested.

Lisa

[Earl]

Next year, eat the plant before it starts to send up the scape, called green garlic. Milder than the cloves but great in recipes calling for garlic. This fall plant some heads of store bought garlic or heads of your hardnecks [harvest before the scapes emerge] and get several plants in a bunch. You can even chop, blanch and freeze for later use.

[rubylune]

I made a pesto out of it and served it spread on grilled bread as an appetizer. It was so delicious, although a little strong. I didn't mind it, but i think some of my guests did.

[rxkeith]

you can make a garlicky vinegar with them. a woman one of my pharmacy techs knows puts them in bottles of vinegar and sells them. haven't tried it yet, but sounds good.

keith in calumet

[henry]

What we do with scapes is place them on foil a bit of olive oil sprinkle of salt a bit of a pepper spice mix wrap up and place on the grill and cook on low for about ten minutes. This is my first post Randy told me about this site.

Henry-Boundary Garlic.

[missionrandy]

Originally Posted by henry

What we do with scapes is place them on foil a bit of olive oil sprinkle of salt a bit of a pepper spice mix wrap up and place on the grill and cook on low for about ten minutes. This is my first post Randy told me about this site.

Henry-Boundary Garlic.

Hi Henry,

Wecome to Tomatoville!

Your recipe sounds delicous...

Take care,
Randy

[neoguy]

Welcome to Tville Henry.

[Tania]

Henry, welcome to T-ville - it is always good to see more BC folks joining!

P. S. Randy, you are very good at recruiting

[Earl]

Welcome, Henry! Glad you found us.