Friday, June 24, 2022

Garlic Scape Stir Fry from @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here with a garden treat for you.

I've been growing garlic in my home organic garden for decades. 

When I had a small organic farm, I planted and harvested hundreds of cloves. Garlic is easy to grow, if you have rich loose soil. In New England you plant in the fall, which is unusual for other food crops. It comes up in the spring and has basically no pests or diseases. You harvest in the summer.

Here I am in my small organic farm in the mid-nineties with only a part of my garlic crop





I still plant it every year, and love the harvest. 



At this time of year, stiff-neck garlic throws up a potential flower stalk called a scape. 



Because I am growing in order to harvest big bulbs, I clip off the scapes, which keeps the plant from putting its energy into the flower and instead lets the garlic bulb up underground.

Now for the recipe! You can make this with raw or cooked meat, or tofu. You can also vary all the other vegetables, and if you can't find scapes in your garden or at your local farmers' market or farm stand, go ahead and mince a few cloves of cured garlic instead.

Garlic Scape Stir Fry

Ingredients



1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons water

1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine or sherry

1 teaspoon Hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil


2-3 tablespoons sesame oil

1 teaspoon ginger finely julienned or a teaspoon of powdered ginger

10 ounces garlic scapes, trimmed of both woody and pointy ends and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 medium carrot, julienned

1/2 gold pepper and 1/2 green pepper, seeded and thinly sliced.

2 cups broccoli florets in bite-sized pieces

1-2 cups of sliced mushrooms



1/3 cup chicken stock, water, or sherry

1/2 teaspoon sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce, or to taste

2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water

Instructions

In a medium bowl, add the chicken, cornstarch, water, wine or sherry, Hoisin sauce, and vegetable oil. Mix well and set aside for 20 minutes.


Mix 1/3 cup stock, water, or wine with sugar and soy sauce and set aside.


Place a wok over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the wok. Add the carrots, peppers, and garlic scapes. 



Stir-fry over medium high heat for 1 minute to give the scapes a good sear. Add broccoli.




Continue to stir-fry for another 1-3 minutes, until broccoli is bright green. Remove vegetables to a plate.


Add more oil and saute mushrooms until tender. 




Add chicken mixture. Rinse bowl with water/stock/sherry mix and add. Add vegetables back in. Stir all together, cover, and cook for a minute. Remove the cover and stir some more.


Add the cornstarch slurry, being sure to pour it directly into the standing liquid, and stir-fry for another minute. Reduce heat to low and adjust seasonings to taste. 




Serve hot over rice.




Readers: What's your favorite stir fry? Have you made garlic scapes another way? I have an ARC of Murder in a Cape Cottage dying to get out into the hands of a reader who promises to review it!

🥦🥕🌶

My most recent release is Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10, out now!




My next release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, out September 27.


"Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder releases the same day.









We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.


16 comments:

  1. My favorite stir-fry uses hoisin sauce, soy sauce, tofu, green beans, green onions, garlic, red bell papper and water chestnuts. I just "discovered" hoisin sauce & it's delicious on just about everything! Love your Cozy Capers Book Club series. I just finished Murder on Cape Cod. lnchudej@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for the Garlic Scape Stir Fry recipe! I swear I can smell it as I read the recipe. I will be trying this for sure.

    We love a beef and broccoli stir fry with lots of onions, garlic and water chestnuts.

    Thank you for the chance to win an ARC copy of "Murder in a Cape Cottage"! Love your books and I'm dying to read and review this one.
    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    ReplyDelete
  3. Looks yummy, Edith! I make all kinds of Asian stir-fry dishes but never thought of using garlic scapes. It's also garlic scape season here in Ottawa. I usually make a garlic scape pesto.

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  4. I'm not familiar with garlic scapes. The dish looks great. Growing up in an asian household, we stir fried most vegetables with or without a protein of choice. Broccoli, bok choy, green beans, cauliflower, zucchini.
    wskwared(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Your recipe looks great! I make a lot of different stir fry dishes using broccoli, green beans, zucchini, garlic, nuts, peppers. I haven't used garlic scapes yet!

    Thanks for the chance! Would love to read and review!

    jarjm1980(@)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have scapes in the fridge right now and I add them to whatever stir fry I make. This week’s was chicken with snow peas. sgiden at verizon(.)net

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  7. I've never had garlic scapes. How does their taste compare to regular garlic? And what is "cured garlic"?
    This sounds very tasty.
    libbydodd at comcast dot net

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scapes are a mild garlic flavor. By cured garlic I just meant garlic that is ready to be stored and used. After harvest it needs to dry out - cure - in a dark dry place for a few eeks.

      Delete
  8. I don't make stir fry and I've never heard of scapes but those pictures look really yummy. Congratulations on the new book. ckmbeg (at) gmail (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Riley, you are our lucky winner! Please check your email, and congratulations.

      Delete
  9. I love to do a stir fry. They are a staple in my kitchen. Will have to see if I can find scapes. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I really like making stir fry and it's so easy. Your recipe looks delicious and I'm sure the garlic right from the garden really tastes good in the stir fry.
    diannekc8(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love stir fry, especially using beef and chicken. I usually have garlic, ginger and soy sauce in mine along with my favorite veggies. So healthy and delicious. cherierj(at)yahoo(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  12. This stir fry looks so good! Great ingredients! lindaherold999(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Riley is our lucky winner! Riley, please check your email, and congratulations.

    ReplyDelete