Green Garlic and Garlic Scape

My favourite show, Mexico One Plate at a Time with Rick Bayless finally premiered its Season 8 in Buffalo and Toronto. I really don't know why it took so long, since in other PBS stations it's been playing since September!

Anyway, today's episode featured Green Garlic Mojo, which is basically "green garlic stalks" (pictured below) (lots of pictures of green garlic in this link).


Picture courtesy of Sophisticated Peasant
I had never seen green garlic stalks! They basically look like green onions, but apparently they are pure garlic. I was very intrigued by them.

I had heard of ramps before and I know we have them here in Toronto at the beginning of the summer. They are all the rage around here.

Not sure if we were talking of the same thing, I put a question to twitter. I now think that ramps and green garlic stalks are not the same because they have separate Wikipedia entries. Then again, someone mentioned that they are also called Garlic Scapes. According to Wikipedia: "Immature scapes are tender and edible. They are also known as "garlic spears", "stems", or "tops". Scapes generally have a milder taste than the cloves. They are often used in stir frying or braised like asparagus".

Looking for more information about green garlic and garlic scape I ran into 2 Sisters Garlic. Their Garlic and Garlic Scape recipes are highly recommended. They have recipes for Garlic Monkey Bread, Veggie and Chicken Pizza with Scapes, Summertime Herbed Chicken Pasta, Garlic Scape Carbonara, Garlic Scape Pesto, White Bean and Garlic Scape Dip, Simple Garlic Vinaigrette, Emeril's Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, Sauteed Garlic Scapes, and Grilled Garlic Scapes. All the recipes feature garlic and green garlic (garlic scapes) prominently and look delicious!

Pescado al mojo de ajo (fish in toasted garlic)

Bill Moran sent me the following recipe from his book Cocina Ranchera, a book on Mexican ranch cooking. In fact, he has 4 different cookbooks, and they all sound super delicious. Click on this link for more information.

Loyal readers may remember a post from almost 4 years ago now, "Mojo de ajo prawns (crayfish)". This is a similar recipe except with fish, but the basics are the same, you can use mojo de ajo for shrimp or other seafood as well.

Here is what he wrote about the recipe:

I enjoyed this dish very much at Restaurante René in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas. When I went back to get the recipe, on another visit, it wasn’t on the menu, so here is my version. At Restaurante René the menu read Trucha al Mojo de Ajo, however, perch, catfish, red snapper, or other similar fish may be used. “Trucha” means trout.

And here it is:

6 to 8 Large Cloves Garlic, coarsely chopped
4 Catfish Fillets, 4 to 6 oz. each, sliced thin
3 to 4 TBS. Oil 1 TBS. Butter or Margarine
1 - 2 TBS. Cilantro, chopped 2 - 3 TBS. Fresh Lime Juice
Salt to Taste 1/2 C. Flour
1/2 C. Corn Flour

Rub fish fillets with lime juice coating thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Remove fish from refrigerator, dry with a paper towel, and dredge with the flour/corn flour mixture. Heat oil and butter in medium hot skillet. Add garlic and saute 30 or 40 seconds then add fish and fry until brown on both sides. Place cooked fish on platter and keep warm. Remove garlic from oil, add lime juice and cilantro and cook until cilantro is wilted. Pour lime juice, cilantro, and oil over fish fillets and serve.
Good with a tomatillo salsa on the side.

Delicious, I say!

Vegan rajas

I'm sorry about the lack of posting. I've been around, but not much cooking/posting lately.
Today I have a vegan take into the rajas con crema that I blogged about some time ago.
I used:
4 fresh poblano peppers
Two cloves of garlic
Half to a quarter of a white onion
One small can of corn
Vegetable oil
Salt to taste

The first thing to do is to roast the poblano peppers in the broiler. I cut them in two so I didn't have to turn them around. When they were charred, I put them in a plastic bag to "sweat".


After the peppers are cooled down, peel and devein them.


Slice in "rajas".


Meanwhile, slice onion and garlic and sautee them in the oil until lightly browned but not caramelized.


Add the rajas that, because of the roasting, should be kinda cooked by now, sautee for about 2 minutes and add salt to taste.


Then add the small can of yellow corn. Sautee for another 2 minutes just to make the taste uniform.


That's it! Serve with a side of rice and refried beans. The corn tortilla is for making tacos.


Delicious!