I have said in the past that there’s no such thing as too much pesto and I stand by that, but wow the freezer’s getting full and we sure do have a lot of garlic scapes.
We turned to the internet, like you do, and came across this recipe for pickled scapes. We won’t know just how good they are for six whole weeks, but I have a feeling we won’t think we made nearly enough.
Word to the wise: when choosing a life partner, be sure they like garlic as much as you do. You want them to be so distracted by their own garlic breath they don’t notice yours.
At our house, dinner prep begins with chopping garlic more often than not. That being said, this recipe uses a ton of garlic even for us. Other than that bit of work, though, it’s quick to throw together, and it makes enough to keep us in leftovers for a good while.
You’ll notice I don’t give amounts for the spices. Don’t panic! I’m not cooking dinner, you are, and you’re going to make this your way. If you end up over-spicing, just serve it with some extra rice or wrap it in a tortilla; under-spicing, sprinkle on some more curry powder. Once you’ve made it a couple of times you’ll have found your perfect balance.
Curried Peas
1/2 cup chopped garlic
Olive oil
Curry powder
Ground black pepper
Red pepper flakes (optional)
3 Tablespoons butter
2 bags frozen baby peas
3 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Fill half of a one cup measure with chopped garlic.
Sprinkle a layer of ground black pepper over it.
Add a few red pepper flakes if you like.
Pour olive oil over the garlic to fill the cup measure.
Melt the butter in a very large frying pan on medium high heat.
Sprinkle curry powder over the surface of the butter. Don’t be shy.
Add the olive oil and garlic.
When the oil and garlic are dancing, add the peas.
Before stirring, add another layer of curry powder, along with a bit of black pepper.
Continue to cook at medium high for 5 or 10 minutes, until the peas are warmed through, stirring occasionally.
Add the chickpeas, topping with curry powder as you did with the peas, then stirring and cooking til everything is hot.
Serve with jasmine rice.
As a gardener, my internal calendar doesn’t quite match up with the one that governs other people.
Garlic goes in the ground at the end of October, marking the start of my new gardening year. I planted over 200 cloves yesterday, on what was luckily for me a gorgeous fall afternoon.
If you’ve never grown garlic, I recommend giving it a try. You can find all sorts of instructions for complicating the issue, but in my experience keeping it simple works just fine. Separate your garlic into cloves – don’t peel them – and pop them in the ground with the pointy side up. Give each one enough space to grow into a head of garlic. They’ll be ready to harvest some time in July, when the leaves of the plant begin to yellow and die.
Garlic from a grocery store may not sprout, as it is sometimes treated to prevent that from happening, so your best bet is to buy from a garden supplier. But if all you have access to is what’s at your local grocery, give it a try. Food generally wants to grow, and will if given a chance.
The key to making enough salsa to last a year is a willingness to chop more peppers than seems entirely reasonable.
As promised, those ugly tomatoes have been transformed into something lovely. I doubled this recipe, which adds to the cooking time. Totally worth it as we’re now set til next summer.
Salsa
10 cups diced tomatoes
5 cups diced bell peppers
5 cups diced onion
2 cups diced hot peppers
1 1/4 cups cider vinegar
3 cloves diced garlic
1 Tablespoon salt
Sterilize 9 pint-sized jars.
Combine all ingredients in a large pan.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and let simmer until slightly thickened, 15-20 minutes.
Fill hot jars, leaving 1/2″ headspace.
Remove air bubbles by poking down into the jar with a very clean tool.
Process 15 minutes after canning water has returned to a boil.
A few notes on ingredients:
Tomatoes: You’ll need 9 or 10 pounds of tomatoes.
Bell peppers: You’ll need about 5 large peppers. Green bells are fine, and as they’re cheapest that’s a good way to go. I like to do a couple of red if I can swing it, because it’s an easy way to add layers to the flavor.
Hot peppers: You’ll need about 10 peppers if you use large jalapenos. For a salsa just about everyone will like, use jalapenos, removing seeds and membranes. For a hotter salsa, replace some of the jalapenos with habanero or whatever you like. Since habaneros are smaller, you’ll need more of them.
After drying out for a few weeks, our garlic was ready to be cleaned up a bit.
When I first started growing garlic I read somewhere that it lasts longer if it’s not cut down or cleaned too thoroughly. Since then I’ve seen plenty of people prep their garlic as if it’s going to the grocery store with no apparent issues, so I’m not sure it makes much difference either way, but it’s become my habit to leave a bit of stem and just rub the worst of the dirt off the bulb and roots with my thumb. There are some things that clearly do make a difference in the storage life of garlic, though. It should be kept in a dark, cool (but not too cold) spot with good air circulation.
It’s interesting to note the way the flavor changes as garlic ages. The garlic bought at a store is generally older, so that’s what we had been used to. New garlic is more juicy and bright. Fresh or aged, it’s delicious.
Abundance Acre 