Bowtie Pasta with Grilled Scapes and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Scapes are the aboveground reproductive part of hard-neck garlic. Ranui CSA members will enjoy several varieties of hard-neck garlic later this season; this time of the year John removes the scapes from the garlic to allow the bulb to grow larger and we get the garlicky mellow scapes in our box. Ever since we bought a grill and our friend Steve P. told us about grilling scapes, we’ve grilled them—but they are delicious pan-sautéed, steamed or roasted. Use them anywhere you would use garlic, in soups and casseroles. I know for sure John eats them raw in his salad.

For the scapes: Trim and remove the seedpods from the top and break away the tougher bottom part just as you would for asparagus. Toss them in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on high heat until tender, 5 to 8 minutes.

1 cup grilled scapes, cut in ½-inch lengths

About 6 ounces bowtie pasta

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes

¼ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

¼ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

Grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Salt the water generously. Cook the pasta until it is tender to the bite.

Meanwhile, in a skillet on very low heat, cook the oil, garlic and red pepper until the garlic is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the sun-dried tomatoes and olives and chopped grilled scapes. Keep warm but do not let the garlic get brown.

When the pasta is ready, add to the skillet and toss with the scapes, tomatoes and olives. Toss in some cheese, then check the seasoning and salt to taste. Serve immediately.

Serves 2. Multiply up for more servings.

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Grilled Wild Sockeye Salmon with Tarragon

Last week I wrote that the recipes on this blog are vegetarian because that is the way Robbie and I eat. But there are no rules here—and anyway my mother used to say, “Rules are meant to be broken.”

We do enjoy high-in-omega-fatty-acids fresh wild salmon every once in a while. We like wild salmon with its pink-orange flesh in fish tacos, a recipe in Robbie’s repertoire. And wild salmon marries very nicely with tarragon, which is in our box this week.

This is more a formula than a recipe, therefore no specific amounts. Taste and adjust your mixture so the distinctly aromatic tarragon with its anise-like flavor is balances with the optional accent of Pernod, a licorice-flavored liqueur that’s very popular in France. (If you read or watched A Year in Provence you may remember ‘pastis” as a late afternoon cocktail, Pernod mixed with water over ice.)

Grilled Wild Sockeye Salmon with Tarragon

Wild Pacific salmon filet, cut into 2 to 3-inch wide portions

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

Lemon juice or rice wine vinegar

Minced garlic

Honey or agave syrup

Pernod liqueur, optional

Fresh tarragon leaves

Preheat the grill to hot. Rinse the fish and pat the salmon portions dry with a paper towel. Make a mixture of equal parts olive oil, lemon juice, honey and Pernod, adding some minced garlic and chopped tarragon. Drizzle and rub the mixture on both sides of the salmon and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper.

Place the salmon skin side down on a grill pan. Close the grill and cook about 5 minutes. Brush on some more of the tarragon mixture on the orange-y side of the salmon, then turn it over. Peel away and discard the skin, brushing the tarragon mixture on the newly exposed side. Close the grill and cook 5 to 6 minutes more, depending on the thickness of the filets. You want the fish to be moist and tender and flake easily when pierced with a knife. Do not overcook the salmon or it will dry out.

To serve, transfer to a serving platter and garnish with sprigs of tarragon.

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Thyme and Lemon Zest Cookies

I longed for the variety and the weekly surprise of super fresh Ranui CSA produce all winter–how great it was to get John’s call yesterday morning to tell me that Ranui’s CSA is starting up for the season this week—yippee!

This blog, Muffintalk, is 3 years old this summer season. It began as a way to compile the recipes I write for Ranui, to help us all enjoy our produce more. I’d like to say that I add recipes in the winter, chronicling what we are having for dinner, but work and skiing seem to get in the way. As long as we receive our weekly boxes, each Tuesday I will post a couple of recipes featuring the ‘pick’, and I encourage you to Search the archives to find more recipe ideas.

Since lacto-ovo vegetarian is my diet, the recipes include butter and eggs. This is the food Robbie and I cook at home. I work as a pastry chef, though, so enjoy the occasional sweet recipe—like today’s cookies.

Thyme and Lemon Zest Cookies

These cookies are from Peggy Knickerbocker’s Simple Soirees: Seasonal Recipes for Sensational Dinner Parties. They were a perfect light and flaky treat to finish the decadent, five-course brunch we served at Deer Valley last weekend.

The lemon oil bumps up the flavor but you certainly don’t need it to make a tasty cookie. LorAnn lemon oil can be found in Park City at No Place Like Home. Freeze one of the logs for a quick dessert later, tomorrow, this weekend or next month.

½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted

½ cup sugar (take away 1 tablespoon at higher altitudes)

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon of lemon oil, optional

2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves

1 tablespoon finely chopped lemon zest

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and lemon oil, if using, and mix well. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Sift together the flour and baking soda. Mix into the creamed butter, scraping the bowl again.

Divide the dough into 2 equal portions. On a piece of parchment or waxed paper, pat each portion into a 12-inch log. Use the parchment to roll smooth, even logs, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Refrigerate 2 hours or freeze 45 minutes, until firm.

Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a couple of large baking sheets with parchment paper or oil them lightly with canola oil. Slice each log into 1/8-inch rounds and arrange on the baking sheets about 1 inch apart. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until the cookies are slightly golden brown.

Makes about 100 small cookies.

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Grilled and Braised Leeks with Chive Blossoms

Community Supported Agriculture—CSA. Why does one join a CSA? Is it for incredibly fresh and tasty vegetables? Is it to be part of a movement to support non-industrial farming? Is it choosing to eat foods grown closer to home, to lessen your “footprint” on our planet? Is it an ethical, environmental, political, health or culinary decision or all of the above?

For a whole month last winter I drove around in my Subaru, listening to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, as a book on CD. Every time I started up the engine, Mr. Pollan’s story of food came on where I had left off, reminding me why I participate in a CSA, and why, to me, the CSA concept is so important. The book was first published in 2006, so yes I am late to the pew. But even years ago, when I read a review of the book, I knew he was preaching to my choir. For me, CSA is much more than a weekly box of garden goodies.

Today, Summer Solstice, Ranui CSA members celebrate with our first box of produce. May the harvest stretch well into fall so we can enjoy the fruits of John’s labor longer than we anticipate. And though it may be summer, this week’s veggies speak of spring—like flowering chives.

Flowering Chives

Chives, like onions, leeks and garlic, belong to the lily (Allium) family. Their lovely lavender blossoms are aromatic and edible, with a subtle bite. Separate the blossoms into petals and use them liberally, on top of your salad mix this week and sprinkled on your new potatoes, whether grilled, roasted, pan-sautéed or mashed.

Grilled and Braised Leeks with Chive Blossoms

Grilling adds the smoky flavor,  though is not imperative to grill leeks before braising. But just grilling is not enough: leeks need more cooking time to make them meltingly tender.  Since this vegetarian household came to the grilling scene only last summer, we are way into grilling. In my kitchen, grilled and braised is the perfect marriage for leeks. Think (lily) family and dress up a platter of grilled and braised leeks with pale purple chive flowers.

About 8 young leeks

Extra virgin olive oil, as needed

1 cup vegetable broth

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Chive blossom petals

Trim the roots from the leeks. Cut off and discard the upper darker green parts and peel away and discard any tough outer layers. Cut each leek in half lengthwise. Wash them well to remove dirt, checking in between each leaf, especially at the root end. Drain and blot with a towel to remove much of the water moisture.

Preheat the grill to high. Brush the leek halves with olive oil on the cut side. Grill them cut side down, about 5 to 6 minutes or until grill marks appear. Remove to a skillet or foil packet.

To braise stovetop: Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Add the grilled leek halves and pour the vegetable broth on top. When the broth comes to a simmer, lower the heat and cover the pan. Cook gently about 20 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Remove the cover and cook until most of the broth has evaporated but the leeks are still glossy and moist.

(You can cook the leeks completely using the grill: after giving them nice grill marks and flavor, enclose the leeks in a tight foil packet with about half of the veggie broth. Continue cooking over medium-hot coals, about 20 minutes, until the leeks are soft and well cooked.)

Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle generously with coarse salt and chive blossom petals.

Serves 2 to 4 as a side dish.

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