Garlic Scape, Mushroom, and Asparagus Pizza
Lemon Scented Pasta with Garlic Scapes and Veggies
(Serves 2 as a main course or four as a side dish)
1/3 box of spaghetti
5 or 6 garlic scapes sliced thinly
6 Sun dried tomato halves sliced thinly
¾ cup fresh corn
½ cup flat leaf parsley
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 cup chicken stock
Cook the spaghetti till al dente and set aside.
Sautee scapes and tomatoes till fragrant then add the corn, parsley, lemon zest and lemon juice and simmer lightly.
Turn the heat up a bit; add the chicken stock and pasta and toss everything to coat and until the sauce is slightly thickened.
Serve garnished with additional parsley.
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Chicken With Garlic Scapes & Capers
2 whole skinless boneless chicken breasts, halved
2 Tbsp. Unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
4 Tbsp. dry white wine
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
4 chopped garlic scapes
1 Tbsp. drained capers
Between sheets of plastic wrap slightly flatten chicken. In a large heavy skillet heat 1Tbsp. of butter and the oil over medium high heat. Saute until cooked through. Season with salt & pepper. Transfer chicken to a platter and keep warm. Pour off fat from skillet and add the remaining butter, the wine, lemon juice, scapes and bring mixture to a boil. Stir in capers and salt & pepper to taste. Spoon sauce over chicken. Serves 4.
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Garlic Scape Carbonara
serves 4
This pasta is fantastic as a meal served with a big garden salad and some crusty bread. If desired, add a half-cup of fresh, lightly cooked peas to the mix for a little added nutrition (and sweetness).
1/2 lb campanella pasta, or shape of your choosing
4 slices bacon (about 3 1/4 ounces), chopped
1/4 cup garlic scapes, cut into 1/4 inch coins
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 cup freshly grated Romano cheese
Set a pot of water to boiling on the stove and cook the campanella pasta (or desired shape).
While it’s cooking, cook the bacon over medium heat until browned. Remove the bacon pieces with a slotted spoon and add the garlic scapes. Cook until soft (2-3 minutes). Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. (Drain both the bacon and the garlic scapes on a paper towel).
Whisk together the eggs, salt and red pepper flakes.
When the pasta is done, quickly remove it from the stove and set a different burner to low heat. Drain the pasta and add it back to the pot, on the burner set to low. Stir in the garlic scapes and bacon. Add the egg mixture and stir feverishly for 3-4 minutes until sauce is thick and creamy. Don’t let it overcook or it will be gloppy. Sprinkle the romano cheese in, a little at a time, and stir to combine. Don’t add it all at once or it won’t mix through out the pasta as well (since it will clump).
Serve immediately.
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Time: 15 minutes
1/3 cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste
Ground black pepper to taste
1 can (15 ounces) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling.
1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.
2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.
3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.
Yield: 1 1/2 cups.
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BEET GREENS & GARLIC SCAPE DECONSTRUCTED PESTO
2 c beet greens, chopped into 2 inch pieces
3 or 4 garlic scapes, chopped
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 c chopped toasted walnuts
your favorite pasta (I used angel hair)
1-15 oz can diced tomatoes (once tomatoes are in season I would use chopped Romas)
Parmesan cheese, shredded
Cook pasta according to package directions. Heat skillet over medium low heat.
Add oil, greens, garlic scapes, salt & pepper. Stir everything around. Cover for 3-5 minutes until everything is wilted. Add in chopped walnuts. Drain pasta. Toss tomatoes and greens with the pasta. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese when ready to serve. ENJOY!
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Fish with Olives and Garlic Scapes
I preheated the oven to 450. Took two sheets of parchment paper, and brushed them with some of the orange olive oil. I layered the fish, chopped Greek olives, chopped sundried tomatoes, and chopped garlic scapes. I drizzled a little olive oil over the top, salt and peppered it, contemplated going outside to snip some fresh herbs, decided I was too lazy, and closed up the pouches. Placed them on a cookie sheet and baked for 10 minutes. Served it over rice.
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Garlic Scape Soup
(This soup enhances the delicate garlic-asparagus flavor of the scapes. You may use the flower as well.)
3 cups garlic spears, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp thyme leaves or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cups chicken broth
1 cup cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Sauté the garlic spears and the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until vegetables are soft. Add the thyme at the end. In food processor, pureé the vegetables and add chicken stock as needed to make a smooth paste. In saucepan, heat the vegetable mixture and add the remaining chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. Adjust the seasoning. Serves 4.
Believe it or not, I'm back on Syrian breakfast. That's right, even though I was so tired of it after my trip, I ate that this morning. But maybe it was OK because it was on my own terms, rather than being the only option.
I admit it, I got REALLY tired of the food while I was in Turkey and Syria, especially breakfast. At first though, I was pretty excited. The photo above depicts the typical breakfast in Turkey and Syria. Cucumber, tomato, cheese, olive, bread, and maybe a little jam or honey. In Turkey, for whatever reason, it seemed to often come with a slice of bologna, I have no idea why, and in Syria, there was usually hummus and lebneh. But that's where the trouble began. Hummus and lebneh were served with EVERY meal. Seriously. I like a little variety throughout the day, and to eat the same thing three times in a row is just too much. By the end of the trip, I dreaded breakfast. Coffee also started out a problem. In both Turkey and Syria, if you ordered coffee at a restaurant, you got barfy Nescafe. Come on. With all the great, thick intense coffee they have over there, the preferred version seriously was Nescafe. I don't understand. But finally, we wised up. In Turkey, we either drank tea, which really is what the locals usually drank, or, we went to some Italian cafe that appeared to be Turkey's answer to Starbucks (only better), and got nice cappucinos and americanos there. I'm sorry to say, however, that I never got to drink "Turkish" coffee in Turkey. In Syria, though, we got that straightened out.
In Adana, we had our first, and best kabob meal. It was really, really, good, and beautiful to look at. Juicy sticks of spiced ground lamb accompanied by all kinds of fresh salads to wrap in with the meat.
Oh, yeah, and in addition to all the stuff I mentioned as typical Syrian restaurant fare, they also always served french fries. I don't know why, but they were always there.
Now on to the Syrian favorites. I had quite possibly the best ice cream of my life there. Sorry, no photo, but you know what ice cream looks like. It was three different flavors: pineapple sherbet on top, then pistachio, and finally almond-cardamom on the bottom. Holy, crap, it was good. FORGET GELATO. This stuff was way better.
They also served a really good fresh cheese.
Finally, dinner at my aunt and uncle's house. Stuffed grape leaves; saffron rice with eggplant, lamb and almonds; stewed peas, and fish. Unfortunately, our meal timing that day was bad: we didn't have lunch until 3 or 4 in the afternoon, and then were supposed to eat this huge dinner at 7. I had the foresight to not eat much lunch, so I was ok, but my dad, cousin, and other uncle did not, so they were passing around the zantac in preparation.
OK. Now we're back in Adana, Turkey again, and my dad wasn't feeling so hot, so I just got a little pizza-like thing from the bakery. It was good, it had olives, corn, cheese, and peppers on it. But it also had weird little hot dog bits on it. I don't know why the Turks are so enamored with hot dog and bologna-like substances. But it was still pretty good.
Our first dinner on the "Flower Street" in Istanbul. Basically, Turkish tapas. Little plates of this and that: stewed tomatoes and eggplant, beans, some sort of mystery vegetable that was similar to artichoke. It was ok.
Turkish sweets, which are pretty much the same as Arabic sweets.
Anything with dates they advertised as Turkish "Viagra." I've never heard of dates having that property, but whatever.
OK. Now I'm back in Germany. Really nice hotel, complete with minibar. I drank a mini-bottle of Sekt, and thoroughly enjoyed its fizzy, fermented wonder. The next morning, breakfast was the great German breakfast buffet. Pretty much anything Western-breakfast related you could want was there, and it was a welcome change.
