Jun. 28, 2021
Cooking In Season
Salad Meals to Beat the Heat
In this recipe round up, I have gathered my best and most delicious summer salad meal recipes in one post, for days when it’s too hot to cook!
July 24, 2013
Farmers’ Market Demo Recipes: Garlic Scapes
Tender garlic-infused greens, mixed with slightly softened squeaky cheese curds, this springtime recipe makes great use of garlic scapes and the abundant leafy greens of spring.
This summer, I have been helping to organize the open air Chef ‘s Demo Stage at the Moss Street Market. My main job is to recruit chefs and passionate cooks to fill up the demonstrations slots. If I didn’t need a summer vacation already, I would just fill all the slots myself, because how great is that?! Using perfect, perfect farm fresh produce to show market shoppers how to cook with seasonal ingredients? The. Best!
Victorians are enthusiastic foodies! Both my demos were very well-attended. I gave out printed copies of the recipes at both demos, but that doesn’t help those of you who missed them. So, by popular demand, I am posting both of my Moss St Market chef demo recipes here on my blog.
The first demo focused on garlic scapes (pictured above) and on leafy greens. People usually don’t know what to do with garlic scapes (I’ve previously posted some ideas here), so I thought this would help them out – tender garlic-infused greens, mixed with slightly softened squeaky cheese curds and a hint of chile… What can I say, except: “Watch out, poutine!”
Garlic Scape Braised Greens with Cheese Curds
Tender garlic-infused greens, mixed with slightly softened squeaky cheese curds and a hint of chile… What can I say, except: “Watch out, poutine!”
Ingredients
Crostini (toasts)
1 baguette, sliced into 1 cm-thick slices
60 ml (1 Tb) extra virgin olive oil
Garlic-Braised Greens and cheese curds
454 g (1 lb) fresh braising greens (e.g. chard, kale, brassica tops, etc)
140 g (1 cup chopped) fresh garlic scapes, finely chopped
30 ml (2 Tb) butter or olive oil
2.5 ml - 5 ml (1/2 - 1 tsp) red chili flakes
3 g (1/2 tsp) salt
30 ml (2 Tb) water
Note ~ Instead of the 1 cup chopped garlic scapes, you can use 6 to 8 large cloves garlic, minced
Instructions
Crostini (Toasts)
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Brush both sides of each slice of baguette with the oil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake until lightly toasted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Make sure the slices are still a bit soft on the inside. Remove to a cooling rack and let cool. Store crostini in an airtight container up to 3 days.
Garlic-Braised Greens and Curds
- Wash and chop the greens, removing stems as necessary.
- If using garlic scapes: Heat butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add prepared garlic scapes and sauté about 1 to 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until scapes are fragrant and softened slightly. Add the chile flakes and sauté about 10 seconds. Immediately add the water and the greens, stirring to coat with the garlic scape mixture. Sprinkle in the salt, turn down the heat, cover the pot and let the greens cook 3 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and infused with garlic.
- If using minced garlic: Combine the butter, garlic and chiles together in a large skillet or sauté pan. Place on a burner and heat over medium-low heat. Stir continuously as the garlic cooks, sautéing until the garlic is pale golden and sticking together in small clumps (or sticking to the spoon). Immediately add the one tablespoon of water and the greens, stirring to coat with the garlic mixture. Sprinkle in the salt, turn down the heat, cover the pot and let the greens cook 3 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are tender and infused with garlic.
- To finish either method: As soon as greens are cooked, remove them from heat, let cool for one to two minutes, and then stir in the chopped cheese curds. These should not melt, only soften slightly.
- Cover each crostini with a tablespoon or two of this mixture. Serve.
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