Chocolate-It's What's for Dinner

Tis the season for garlic scapes. June is the month when the garlic scapes start growing. Scapes are the flower buds on the garlic. You need to cut them off so that more energy goes into the garlic bulb ( see last year's harvest here ) before you harvest the garlic. They have a mild garlic flavor when cooked and beat string beans any day. You can prepare them just about anyway that you would prepare string beans. In their raw state they have a strong garlic flavor and are a little tough. I just did a quick steam and saute. Scapes Salt Olive Oil Place scapes in steamer basket. Steam scapes with the lid tilted. Do not put the lid totally on or the scapes will lose that rich green color. Steam until tender. In a skillet add oil. Toss scapes with salt and saute until scapes have a little color on them. Serve I also tossed on a little balsamic reduction. Although it didn't stay on too well because of the olive oil that was already on the scapes. It did add some nice flavo...

This is a whole new way of making mashed potatoes - well at least it was for me. I saw it on America's Test Kitchen and thought it was ingenious. I have since shared it with many other people and they really like this version too. You don't have to mess around with all that boiling hot water. The potatoes steam in the milk and suck in all the flavor from the garlic and optional herbs. I've adapted it down to the point that you really don't even need a strict recipe. Mashed Potatoes Without a Net (Adapted from ATK) Butter garlic Potatoes Equal part Skim Milk and Heavy Cream (or whole milk and half & half) herbs (optional) salt/pepper Peel and cube potatoes. Rinse and set aside.  In a dutch oven add butter, garlic and herbs (I used fresh thyme). Saute until fragrant. Add potatoes and equal parts of milk and heavy cream until potatoes are partially covered. Add salt to taste. This is how much liquid you should add Cover partially with the...

Now that the basil is starting to take off in the garden, it's pesto time. Pesto is such a great summer dish - the only bad part is boiling the pasta. It heats the kitchen up so much. But it's well worth it. You will notice that there really is not a strict recipe here (your are very observant). It's a matter of putting the ingredients together and tasting. It's spinach tortellini-the pesto didn't make the pasta THAT green! Pesto in a Flash 1/4 c pine nuts* 2 glove garlic - rough chop about 1 c fresh basil about 1/4 c fresh parsley about 1 c Parmesan or Romano cheese grated Olive Oil Salt/Pepper Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet. Remove from pan and let cool. Place a small amount of olive oil in pan and cook garlic until fragrant. Remove from pan and let cool.  Place basil, parsley, pine, and pine nuts in food processor. Pulse until rough chopped.  Add cheese and pulse.  Pour about 1/4-1/2 c olive oil into food processor and pulse. Taste. Add salt...

Here is our harvest 97 heads of garlic on the shelf, 97 heads of garlic, take one down....You know how the song goes. With 97 heads of garlic on the shelf, I don't need to buy any garlic. You should plant garlic in the fall late October/early November (keep in mind we're located in the Northeast).  Buy organic garlic - for each clove from the head, you should get one plant. I got the original garlic from one of the docs that I used to work with.  It is really strong - much stronger than what you can buy in the store. Plant each clove about 6 inches apart from one another. You can leave the skin on. If you want you can cover them with some leaves to act as mulch and to keep them moist over the winter.  About February or March you will notice the garlic begin to pop up out of the ground. If you get a real warm week, you will notice significant growth.  Late May/early June you will see the scapes start to grow. These are the flowers - you need to cut them off. I...