A few months ago, students at The Country School planted garlic as a part of Mrs. Johnson’s science curriculum. When I started working in the garden early this past May, the garlic was the first plant I noticed as I entered the garden, and the only vegetable growing at the time. Over the past few weeks, I’ve weeded and watered around the stalks on occasion, but have otherwise ignored the garlic. That was until last Thursday when I noticed these long curly shoots coming out from the center of each stalk. I did a quick Google search and discovered that these are garlic scapes, the flowering buds of the plant, which are edible and delicious sauteed. Well, what did I do? I got out my clippers, snipped from the base of the shoots, and brought them home for a night of culinary experimentation. Although we’d run out of practically everything in our kitchen that evening, I got creative with what I had and created a recipe that I think I’ll be making for years to come, so long as I grow garlic! The mildness of the scapes (compared with the sharp flavor of garlic bulbs) made them a lovely complement to the eggs without being overpowering and balanced the warm minty-peppery-anise flavor of the tarragon. If you’ve got some scapes shooting out of your garlic this time of year, give this recipe a go and let me know what you think!

     

Farm-Fresh Scape Scramble for a light dinner for two

Ingredients:

four large chicken eggs (pasture-raised, if possible)

1 tbsp whole milk (grass-fed, if possible)

¼ cup finely grated Parmesan Reggiano (the real deal. Not worth it otherwise!)

¼ teaspoon sea salt (I used Maldon’s flakes) 

½ teaspoon cracked black pepper 

2-inch twig of fresh tarragon, stem removed (try growing it in your garden)

two 2 inch sprigs of spicy bush basil, whole  (try growing it in your garden)

1 small yellow onion, sliced 

20 garlic scapes, chopped into 1-inch pegs (the thin woody ends are not worth the chew and can be added to the compost)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions:

Heat olive oil in a medium nonstick skillet over low heat. Add in onion and saute for four minutes to begin the sweating process. Add scapes and half of the tarragon leaves and increase heat to medium. Saute until onion and scapes are tender and begin to char slightly. Remove from heat. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper until frothy. Re-oil skillet and reduce heat to medium-low. Pour in the egg mixture and let stand for a quick minute. Toss remaining tarragon leaves, basil, and parmesan on top. Using a wooden spatula, pull the more cooked outer edges in towards the center, allowing the uncooked egg to re-flood the edges. When eggs are still a little runny (about 70% cooked), add in your scapes and onion saute, and begin gently breaking up the egg into large pieces. You want the scramble to be fat and fluffy, not overly worked into sad little egg crumbles. Once the scapes and egg are nicely combined, divide out onto two plates, crack some more pepper on top, and serve immediately alongside a radish, mesclun salad tossed in a light balsamic vinaigrette.