Pickled Garlic Scapes

I got a huge bunch of garlic scapes in my last CSA box and decided, since I had a lot of greens that needed to be eaten before they lost their will to live, that pickled garlic scapes would preserve them long enough for me to be able to enjoy them properly.

I am really glad that I made these - they have turned into a workforce of a condiment that I currently use in everything. They tasted great chopped into tuna salad, they added some oooph to a recent batch of deviled eggs and to a recipe that I tried out for a corn dip. They lifted up a plain green salad and were the perfect punchy topping for a tomato one. I sprinkled some finely chopped ones on top of the sour cream that I had drizzled over braised beef tacos and did that again over a plate of roasted vegetables. I mixed some into mayo along with chopped herbs to serve with both cold salmon and cold chicken. They were excellent as a garnish to cold soba noodles served with a soy sauce based dipping sauce, along with shredded seaweed. Last but not least, the garlicky brine can be used in a vinaigrette or to boost a cold summer soup, and one of my friends -- to whom I gifted the other jar -- added some to her Sunday Bloody Mary with, from what I was told, stellar results. I am sure that there are many other uses for these quick refrigerato pickles that have yet to occur to me.

For something that takes 5 minutes or so to make, that is a pretty good outcome.

This recipe will make 2 tightly packed 1/2 pint jars of pickle and is easy to scale the recipe to make as many pints or half pints as you need to make.

4 large garlic scapes

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 Tbsp Kosher salt or 1 1/2 tsps table salt

1 1/2 tsps granulated sugar

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

1 tsp black peppercorns

2 bay leaves

Wash the garlic scapes. You can either chop them into equal-sized pieces and jam them into dry, clean jars or, you can do what I did, and coil a couple of them into the jars, stuffing the rest, chopped into pieces, into the middle of the jar. The coiled version is prettier, the chopped version is more practical.

Place all of the ingredients except for the scapes in a saucepan, along with half a cup of water, and bring to a boil.

Once the liquid is bubbling away happily, remove the bay leaves and place one in the center of each jar. Then pour half of the hot liquid into each jar.

Ensure that the garlic scapes are covered by the liquid and push any piece that is sticking up down into the liquid. Cover and let cool on the counter before refrigerating.

I let mine sit in the fridge forthree days before I used them so that the pickles would be truly garlicky.