Garlic Scape Bisque

It's that time again, when we're overwhelmed with garlic scapes and faced with the dilemma of what on earth to do with them all. Two beds full of garlic = close to 150 garlic scapes.

In the past, I've grilled them, made pesto, and baked a scape and goat cheese tart. This year, I decided to try a nice cool vichyssoise-inspired soup, enriched with buttermilk rather than cream. The result was splendid. Read on for the recipe.

Garlic Scape Bisque

Makes about 3 quarts of soup.

Notes:

• Use a dry floury potato, like a Russet or Idaho, for this. It'll make for a softer, creamier soup than waxy boiling potatoes.
• Snip the scapes into pieces with kitchen shears or scissors; much easier than trying to wrangle the wiggly scapes with a knife.
• For a vegetarian version, omit the chicken stock and use 6 cups pf water.

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
4 cups garlic scapes cut in 1-inch pieces (from about 2 lbs. of scapes)
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cut into large dice (about 4 good-sized Russets)
4 cups mild chicken broth
2 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups buttermilk
Snipped fresh chives

In a large-ish heavy-bottomed lidded pot (I used an 8-quart soup pot), melt the butter over medium heat, then sauté the onion and scapes until soft. Add the potatoes, stock, water, about a tablepoon of salt (unless your stock is very salty) and several grinds of pepper.

Bring carefully just to a boil, then lower heat, cover the pot, and simmer until the potatoes and scapes are very soft (about 45 minutes).

Remove the soup from the heat and let it cool enough that you can handle it comfortably. Finely purée the soup in a blender in batches, or just use an immersion blender right in the pot. Pass the puréed soup through a sieve to remove any bits or lumps (you can skip this step for a slightly less refined result).

Once the soup is cooled to just slightly warm, stir in the buttermilk and check/adjust the seasoning (a pinch or two of cayenne wouldn't be out of place at this point).

If you're not going to be serving the soup right away, you can chill it in the refrigerator; chill in an ice bath for immediate use. The flavor of the soup is best when served cool, but not cold.

Garnish with a sprinkling of snipped chives (you can add a dollop of crème fraîche if you want to get fancy).

We made a light dinner of the soup, with some crusty baguette, a light chilled Torrontes (my favorite summer white), and a La Roche cheese from Lazy Lady that was at a perfect stage of ripeness.

Comments

[James Murdock]

You have Scapes already? This looks ngh,ngh Good!

[GG Mora]

'Already', as in they're already about done! 2 weeks ahead of a 'normal' season. Crazy, man.