Can't S'cape

I love our CSA. Our local community supported agriculture group has introduced my family to an amazing range of fresh, local veggies and fruits that we've never tried before. Some of the more memorable are chive blossoms (pictured), cardoons, donut peaches (!), and of course... garlic scapes.

As a dedicated cook, I enjoy trying out new textures, flavors and ingredients but often find myself falling into a rut - particularly when I shop at the local grocery stores. While vegetables were never a strong point as a child... being brought up on canned vegetables that had the texture of mush and unnatural shapes (carrot cubes anyone?) made it quite the challenge.

Now enter garlic scapes and an interest in pickling interesting veggies!

If you've never had garlic scapes they are a fiery rich tour de force when raw, and contribute plenty of flavor when used in a pesto. Interestingly, when pickled they mellow into a delicious, almost subtle flavor that pairs gorgeously with sharp cheeses. The recipe below is a delicious way to pickle scapes and save this delicious spring treat for a cool autumn day!

Pickled Garlic Scapes:

The first thing to note about this recipe is that it is a very standard savory pickle in terms of ingredients. You have your veg to be pickled, your brine (salt/H20/vinegar) and some aromatics to make it taste interesting. The fun comes in when you start playing with the herbs and spices, so try out different combinations!

Ingredients: 

• 12 oz fresh scapes, cut into ~2" slices
• 1.5 cups good apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 cups H20 
• 2 Tbps salt* (pickling or kosher)
• 3+ tsp total herbs and aromatics (pepper corns, chili flakes, coriander, dill seed, etc)

A note on pickling salt. While other salts can be used, try to use one with no additional ingredients or "anti-caking" agents. These other ingredients can cloud your pickling liquid and detract from its look. The other thing I learned is that is you substitute salts based on volume you will likely NOT get the right salinity level in your pickling liquid (which is bad).  I found this article quite informative and nicely written when I was reading about possible substitutes: http://www.livinghomegrown.com/pickling-salt/ 

Steps:

1. Prepare your jars. Mine made about 5x 1/2 pint jars. Try using the wide mouthed ones since it will be much easier to get the scapes in without too much hassle! I unfortunately did not have them
2. Evenly distribute your herbs over the various jars.
3. Add the H20, vinegar and salt and bring to a boil. 
4. Reduce to a simmer and add your 12 oz of scapes, cut to size. Simmer for 1-2 minutes until just starting to soften.
5. Add the scapes to each of the jars. It may make 4 or 5 depending on how well you can pack them.
6. Pour the vinegar brine into each jar leaving about 1/4 inch+ of headroom.
7. Seal, process for 10 minutes or so and let cool.

Give the finished product some time to really pull together. Waiting for 2+ weeks will help the flavors to mellow and meld. Server as you would cornichon or other pickles. We tried ours with 1-year aged Manchego which has a minerally texture almost like a good Parmigiano-Reggiano.