Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto

Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto

kosher

Garlic scapes are the curly tops of garlic plants, often found at local farmers markets.  They can be sauteed, but I find them a bit to fibrous and the garlic flavor a bit aggressive for that preparation.  Where I think they really shine is in pesto.  By blending the scapes into a sauce, it breaks down the fibers, and by adding olive oil and Parmesan cheese, their richness along with some acid from lemon juice can tame the strong garlic flavor.

Garlic Scape and Basil Pesto

1 Cup Chopped Garlic Scapes

1 Cup Fresh Chopped Basil

1 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts

1 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 Cup Olive Oil

Juice Of 1 Lemon

Salt and Pepper

Put the garlic scapes, basil, pine nuts, Parmesan, and lemon juice to your food processor and process until smooth.  While the food processor is running drizzle the olive oil in until the the sauce comes together.  Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over your favorite pasta.

7 Day Spicy Pickles

7 Day Spicy Pickles

Just a quick picture of some more 7 day pickles.  I used a 5% salt brine (50 grams of salt per liter of water), with a lot of garlic, black and green peppercorns, coriander, whole mustard seed, a couple of bay leaves, and 3 hot peppers.  I also added a few grape leaves to help the pickles stay crunchy.  Special thanks to The Gan Project for providing the cucumbers and garlic.  This time they came out perfectly.  The major difference from the last time was I used less brine relative to the number of pickles, so they were not to salty.  I put it all together and just let them sit on my counter for about a week.

Pickles in a Week

Fermented pickles are actually pretty easy to make.  Get the freshest cucumbers you can, submerge them in a salt brine of 50 grams of pickling salt per liter of water.  Yes I do weigh my salt.  If you do not have a food scale get one.  Let it sit for a week on your counter, and you will have pickles.  Of course you will likely want to add some other flavors.  Of course you can buy pickling spice, but it is fun to customize.  Thinks you might like to add: garlic, whole peppercorns, coriander, dill, bay leaf, and red pepper flake.  Those are just suggestions, but feel free to add any flavors you like.  You make want to also a a grape leaf or two as they help to keep the cucumbers from getting mushy.  The cucumbers and garlic I used came from The Gan Project, and the dill I used came from the small garden on my balcony.  I also threw in some scallion just to see what would happen.  They can out pretty good, although I think I added a bit to much salt which I corrected by watering down my brine after I tried the first pickle.

Crusty French Roasted Garlic Loaf

Roasted Garlic:

1 Head of Garlic

1 TBSP of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Slice off the top of the head of garlic drizzle on the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Wrap it is foil and bake at 400F for 45 minutes.

Bread Recipe:

Bread flour 3 Cups
Salt 1.5 tsp
Butter/Margarine 1TBSP
Water 10.5 fl. oz.
Dry yeast
1/3 cup water

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

I put the flour, water, salt, margarine, and yeast in the bread machine on dough mode and let it do its thing.  When the dough was ready I folded in the roasted garlic, moved it to a greased and floured loaf pan, and brushed it with a slurry made from the smaller amount of water and the corn starch.  Then I baked it in a preheated oven of 400F on a top rack with a pan of water on the bottom rack for 50 minutes.  Remove it for the pan and let it cool on a rack for 1/2 hour.

The cornstarch and the water pan are borrow from Alton Brown: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/very-basic-bread-recipe/index.html


There were 2 issues, that I think had the same cause.  The garlic all ended us in the middle and there was a seam on the side of the loaf.  I think this was due to the way i shaped the loaf.  The good news is the crust was nice and crunchy and the light and moist.