I have been asked - no - begged - to reveal my soon-to-be-famous recipes for pesto and hummus using fresh garlic scapes. Ok. I bend to peer pressure. But not without this warning:

EATING THIS STUFF CAN BE ADDICTIVE!

And to lure you into my web, I also offer a recipe for homemade crackers to go with them.

Go ahead…try these…don’t let anyone see you…scoop them into small bowls and go off to your happy place…we’ll see you in a few days. I tantalize you first with the pesto. You have to come back for the hummus and crackers.

GARLIC SCAPE PESTO:

First, a caveat: the problem with this recipe - or maybe it’s me - is that nothing is really measured and substitutions are made freely, depending on what you have on hand. If you are a freestyle cook, you understand this mentality. There are a few things you must have, namely, garlic and olive oil, or it simply isn’t pesto. Personally, I grow a lot of basil and several varieties, but I am not terribly fond of it in pesto (I know, this is blasphemy to my Sicilian heritage), because most recipes ask for a lot of it and it is too overpowering. Now the garlic - I grow lots - I use lots - it is incredibly overpowering - and if you are a true garlic lover, that is just how it should be. Ok - the recipe:

1 doz. garlic scapes
1 cup, more or less, of parsley (I grow a lot of this, too - it balances well with garlic and is available most of the year)
1 1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 - 1 tsp sea salt (you don’t need much)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice

Chop, blend, or whatever you need to do to make it smooth. Yes, you can add Parmesan if you have it - or if you have pine nuts, those are great - and of course, you can totally change the taste with aromatic fresh basils, but I don’t always have those things, and the craving must be fed, regardless. What kind of recipe is this, you ask? Ok, not really a recipe, more like a guideline.

But now that you’ve made it, you must face your ethical dilemma: go hide or go share. Your choice. I won’t tell.

WOW! Is there anything like fresh green garlic to make you feel that spring has ARRIVED!?!

(Ok - the first crocus and daffodil might also elicit a bit of giddiness - but we don’t EAT those!)

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: THE GARLIC SCALLIONS ARE READY!

Today I went and picked an armful of mizuna - which, by the way, is such an extraordinary green - it’s purplish maroon blush on the topside of the leaves is absolutely beautiful, and its sharp hot, horseradish-like flavor when fresh clears the sinuses. Cooking, as with the garlic, mellows its flavor. Once planted, it seems to re-seed itself prolifically - which is fine, because “weeding” has never been more flavorful!

What could be a better combination than a few garlic scallions (have to test them, you know, to make sure they are ready!), some mizuna, and maybe a tad bit of sea salt, briskly sauteed in a little oil - hmmm…. Oh, dear fresh garlic, how I have missed you! I just cannot break down and buy those 2-for-a-buck inferior bulb varieties that come from who-knows-where. The wait has been worth it! Note: these garlic scallions are from a mixture of gourmet varieties - there is simply no comparison with the “California Early” types grown commercially!

Garlic scallions - or “green garlic” - those tender little morsels before they mature into a pungent clove-divided bulb, spell spring in so many ways! Yes you can eat the shoots! And those garlic cloves that didn’t quite overwinter and have started to sprout? You can still plant them! Even a small pot will do. Crowded is ok. In a couple of months (maybe less), you, too, can be eating your own scallions right from the garden.

Other great ideas for garlic scallions: chopped fresh in salads, humus, pesto (who needs basil?) - or lightly cooked (throw it in at the last minute to not lose the flavor!) in eggs, with pasta, over seafood, in soups, on potatoes, with asparagus - or maybe mixed with leeks or chives and thrown in just about everything.

WANT SOME NOW??? HERE’S HOW TO ORDER: My supplies disappear quickly (they are habit-forming!), so get your order in soon! If you live on the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, within reasonable distance of Sequim (gas prices are driving up the cost of food everywhere!), I am most willing to accommodate. Call me at (360) 681-3891 or write blythe (at) barbolian (dot) com.

YES I am open to barter & trades!