Harvested a LOT of Garlic Scapes from the garden the other day. Saturday afternoon was spent making Garlic Scape Pesto for the freezer, and we had some for lunch. If you're not familiar with garlic scapes, the larger scapes have a fibrous end (the cut end), like asparagus does. Snap it off, just like the cut end of a stalk of asparagus. And of course, make sure that you clean and dry the scapes before use. I use my salad spinner to dry them, it's quick and easy. Scapes can be found at farmers markets late spring / early summer in our area. If you don't grow hardneck garlic in your veggie garden, the farmers market is a good place to source scapes. The scape pesto that I made this time is different than the scape pesto that I normally make. I like to change things up every once in a while. Garlic Scape Pesto: 4 oz Garlic Scapes, fibrous end removed, roughly chopped 1/2 to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 cup grated Romano cheese, set 1/2 cup aside. (or Parmesan, Asiago, etc...) Heaping 1/4 cup of Walnuts, roughly chopped (or 1/4 cup Pine Nuts, I didn't have any so I used walnuts) 1/2 t Sea Salt 1/2 t Black pepper Clean and dry scapes. Remove fibrous ends and roughly chop. In a food processor, combine scapes, 1/2 of the cheese and nuts; process until finely chopped. Slowly add the oil a little at a time, pulsing between additions, until you have reached desired consistency. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese, salt and pepper, pulse just enough to combine. Stir it into your favorite pasta, it's fabulous! We usually have this with Fettucinni, Linguini or Angel Hair pasta. This time I went with Penne, because it was handy. If you don't REALLY like Garlic, this recipe is not for you. Not kidding! But, if you're a Garlic lover like Yoda and I are, this should be right up your alley. Note: When I make large batches to freeze, I do NOT add the cheese until just before serving.
I'm in 'make room in the freezer' mode. We had a pork shoulder roast in the freezer that was taking up valuable space for raspberries and mulberries, so I thawed the roast in the fridge for a few days. Yesterday I decided to get it going in the crock pot. Normally I would slow roast this in the oven overnight, but it's been too hot to have the oven on for 10 to 12 hours. This is very easy to make, and it has a lot of flavor from a few basic ingredients. I used my 7 quart crock pot. What you need: 1 bone in pork shoulder roast 8 to 10 lbs 4 large carrots, halved 4 stalks of celery, halved or cut into 3rds (whatever fits in the bottom of your roaster) 2 large onions, quartered & skins removed 4 cloves of garlic 1 cup of water 1 cup of white wine (use wine that you like to drink) 1 pint of chicken stock (if using store bought, you'll want to doctor it up) 1 sprig of fresh thyme Olive oil - just enough to lightly coat the bottom of the crock pot / roaster Sea salt to taste (I started with 2t) Fresh cracked pepper to taste (25 turns of the peppermill) Crock pot, or a large roasting pan (I'll give cook time and temp for oven roasting too). Cook - Crock pot on Low for 10 to 12 hours, covered OR Oven - 225f for 10 to 12 hours in a covered roasting pan. Lightly oil the bottom of the crock pot (or roaster). Line the bottom of the crock pot (or roasting pan) with the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Add 1 cup of water, and 1 cup of white wine (should be just enough to come half way up the side of the veggies). Go ahead and add some salt and pepper. Place the roast on top 'fat side up' (you can rub the roast with some oil too). Don't forget to add the sprig of Thyme. Salt and pepper the top of the pork roast. If you're doing this in the crock pot, put the lid on and walk away. When the roast is done it will be soft and 'sticky', and pull apart really easy with a fork. Turn the crock pot off and let it stand about half an hour. Then remove the roast from the crock pot. Put all of the veggies and the juicy goodness from cooking the roast in a large sauce pot. 'Whaz it up' with a stick blender until it looks like this. The cooked veggies will help thicken all the drippings for gravy. Add the chicken stock, bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Thicken to desired consistency. Generally I use organic corn starch when making 'roast gravy', but you can use instant potatoes, or make a slurry with flour to thicken it as well. Up to you. Adjust salt and pepper to taste before serving. ~Some tasty additions to this recipe - 1 or 2T fennel seed, and 2 Fennel bulbs trimmed and roughly chopped.
Nice looking pizza, Leonard! Crust is looking the right amount of crispy. I keep forgetting to take pictures of the meals my mom make. She made the most marvelous Spanish Rice from scratch and added chorizo spam to it. If I wasn't so adverse to spam I'm general I'd say it was a complete meal. She also made chicken steak (most tender steak I've ever had) with green and red peppers Ice coffee is great. It's like hot coffee. ..but cold! -TeresaHC
Thanks Koochie! Fucking love chicken steak. Yeah start posting in here! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Sliced some chicken breasts. Placed marinara sauce, mozzarella, and slices of salami in the chicken then baked em. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
Love that you guys are posting such delicious food pics! It always makes me hungry...LOL My oven went out, so for now I'm making do with the toaster oven for things that we wouldn't normally BBQ. Thankfully, that can be outside on the covered porch and not heating up the kitchen. Tonight, nothing fancy ~ homemade french bread pizza's, with a Mexican cheese blend (Monterey Jack, Mild Cheddar, Queso Quesadilla and Asadero cheeses), roasted garlic sauce (pepperoni for Yoda). I didn't feel like going to get mozzarella, so I just used what I had on hand.