Garlic Scapes

      Towards the end of June here in Southern new England, your garlic plants will send up a tall stem that curls around like a pig's tail and ends with a long slender flower bud.

       You want to remove these scapes, as they are called, so that the plant puts its energy into the bulb, not the flower. Since last year's garlic is probably used up or dried out by now, you will welcome the addition of the garlic scape to your early summer cuisine.

      I like to chop the scapes into bite size pieces and use them as I would use chopped garlic.  For instance, saute them with chopped onion as a beginning to a stir fry or soup.

      Also they can be chopped into slightly longer pieces and steamed like green beans, and eaten as a vegetable side dish themselves, or in a medley with turnips or other seasonal vegetables.

A medley of cauliflower, snugar snaps and scapes on the steamer.