When life (or the CSA) gives you garlic scapes, make pesto!

We grabbed our 3rd CSA pick-up this afternoon to find some lovely strawberries, 3 adorable radishes, an enormous head of escarole, a bag of salad mix, a head of Romaine lettuce, more garlic scapes and some scallions.

Now, I like salad. I like it a lot. But, Luke doesn't. Not only does this make for a sad tatertot, it also makes for an overwhelmed one. My fridge is overflowing with greens! 2 heads of lettuce, that giant escarole(!) and a bag and a half of salad mix is a lot for one person to try to slog through. But, I digress. It will all get sorted out. We will eat salads (both of us!) this next week until it comes out our ears. We will also make soup from the Escarole of Doom.

Now, back to the matter at hand: garlic scape pesto.

Garlic scapes are also known as garlic tops. Because garlic reproduces asexually, it shoots up tall stalks with buds on them with the hope of going to seed. Farmers, wishing for that energy to go into growing plumper heads, lop them off and sell them. Prior to the discovery they could be eaten, they would be thrown away.

They taste like garlic with none of the rawness of a raw clove and they can be used in exactly the same way. Some even use them as you would green beans.

I choose to make pesto from them, using just a bit of parsley to up the 'green' flavor quotient. With said pesto, you can throw it on pasta, mix it with balsamic vinegar and make dressing, cover a pounded chicken breast with it and pan fry or scoop it up with crackers and eat as is.

Garlic Scape Pesto

1 scant cup garlic scapes, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup pine nuts (pignoli if you're hardcore)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup good quality olive oil

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the first four ingredients and pulse until everything is in tiny, uniform bits. Next, with the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil until combined and pesto-y. Eat!

Infused Vodkas

Luke and I attended the wedding of 2 longtime friends yesterday and it was just lovely! The ceremony was held in the assembly chambers inside the Capitol building in Madison with the reception held just across the street at Brochach (pronounced broka). I hadn't planned on drinking, really, but I was won over by the open bar and the spectacular pineapple infused vodka they had. I could have chosen to have it on its own, but I chose to mix it first with a little orange juice and then with Sprite. I stopped after 2, like the responsible driver I am.

Thinking to myself that we've got a decent sized party coming up and the seeming ease of making such a libation, I decided to give it a go. There are plenty of recipes out there for infused vodkas, but I decided to wing it. I dragged Luke out of the house this morning in search of a large container with a spigot, a fresh pineapple or 2, some farm fresh strawberries and some cheap but drinkable vodka.

Walking out of the grocery store with 2 1.75 liter bottles of vodka made me feel like quite the sot. They don't know me! They can't judge me! "This is in the name of culinary greatness!" I longed to scream. Keeping my mouth shut and my head down, I paid for my purchases and returned to the car.

Upon arriving home, I got to work. I chopped up one of the pineapples, not bothering to core it, tossed the pieces into the container, poured in one of the bottles of vodka and sealed it up. Now, it sits for a couple of weeks and hopefully, it will be spectacular.

Having a spare bottle of liquor and an empty mason jar, I also sliced up some of the previously mentioned strawberries and did the same thing with them.

Blueberry Scones and 1st Week CSA Share

I have been unusually busy of late and our social calendar has us doing something almost every weekend these days. This is our last (so far) empty weekend until the 11th of July. So if there's been a dearth of posts, it's due to my not having time. I am in the kitchen doing stuff, but I don't always remember to take photos or it doesn't come out as pretty as I'd like. (Note: I only share that which I deem cosmetically pleasing.)

Today was the 1st day in our 19 week CSA share season. A CSA is also called a farm share. You contact a local farm offering such a program, pay a set amount and end up with lovely farm fresh produce that varies throughout the season. Madison's own local organization (MACSAC) is a great resource if one happens to be interested in such a thing. They can answer a lot of questions and even have a low-income assistance program.

As seen in the photo, we received a head of lettuce, a huge bag of salad greens, a bag of spinach, salad turnips with their greens and a bunch each chives and garlic scapes. I am excited to see what the rest of the season brings and, after being anxious for this day since January, I was not disappointed.

We also received a basil plant from our farm and it has taken up residence on the roof of Sjölind's Chocolate Haus with the herby cousins I'm cultivating (thyme, parsley, oregano, more basil and nasturtiums). The cousins are currently in micro stage and I did a bit of thinning yesterday. Luke was wondering what was taking so long when he came out to check on me. He found me hunched over a pot of basil saying, "I'm having to make Sophie's choice over and over again!". Fortunately, I was able to transplant the larger ones into another planter and I took the thinlings home as "microgreens" and used some both in my eggs (from another local farmer, we receive a dozen a week) this morning and on my salad with dinner.

I've also been making a lot of scones lately. I tried my hand at blackberry and, while tasty, they were not pretty and the seeds were simply too large for me to really be rapturous about them. Then I tried blueberry and hit the jackpot. I've made 2 batches so far and they've both been delicious.

Blueberry Scones
(425* for 15-20 mins. - makes 8)

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter
1 cup fresh blueberries, washed and picked over
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425* and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl combine flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Using the large hold of a box grater, grate the butter into the flour mixture and, using a pastry blender, fork or fingers, combine until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add liquid ingredients to dry and gently fold in blueberries. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead 4 or 5 times for a cohesive dough. Press dough out into a 7" round and cut into six equal triangles. Arrange on baking sheet and brush with cream, sprinkling with demerara sugar if desired.

Bake scones 15-20 mins. until they are lightly browned. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with butter or at room temperature. They are excellent plain and I recommend freezing them should they sit around too long. Because of the fruit, they tend to mold a bit soon. I just take one at a time in the freezer and microwave it for 30 or so seconds at 40% power.