Food Preservation

Canning mangoes at home is a great way to preserve an otherwise expensive fruit for cooking all year round.  When you can mangoes at home, you can use as much or as little sugar as you’d like, meaning that they’re much more versatile than store bought.

Most of the year, mangoes are unbelievably expensive, especially in the Northeast.  Once mangoes come in season in mid-summer, the grocery stores are almost giving them away.  They sell for as little as 50 cents a piece, down from $3 or more each.  When that happens, it’s time to get canning!

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If you’re growing enough garlic to feed your family, you’re also growing enough garlic scapes to feed an army.  When the garlic scapes start popping up, it’s hard to use them all fresh.  Sure, they’re good in scrambled eggs and they make a spectacular fresh garlic scape pesto but even after you’ve used them every way imaginable, they’re still coming…

It’s time to pull out the canner and make pickled garlic scapes.  Home canned pickled garlic scapes taste like extra garlic-y pickled dilly beans, with an extra crunchy snap.  While green beans can sometimes get a bit soggy in the canner, garlic scapes barely even feel it, coming out crisp and flavorful every time.

Garlic scapes are long, and it’s a shame to cut them down to size for canning jars.  Try using extra tall pint and a half jars for a more dramatic finished presentation on the table.  They also make really pretty gifts that way.

I’ve found that you can pickle them in two shapes.  The long straight stems can be cut to length for tall canning jars, but the curl above the straight portion fits perfectly into a wide mouth jar.  Try canning up both versions, the straight pickles and fun curly Q’s.

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Canning Pickled Garlic Scapes

Pickled garlic scapes preserve short-lived garlic scapes for year-round eating.

Ingredients

• 1 pound garlic scapes 3 to 5 bunches if you're buying them at the farmers market
• 2-3 teaspoons dill seed one teaspoon per jar
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons whole peppercorns 1/2 tsp. per jar
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons whole coriander seed 1/2 tsp. per jar
• 1.5 cups apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 cups water
• 2 tablespoons pickling salt or kosher salt

Instructions

1. Start a water bath canner and bring it up to a boil.
2. Trim each end of the scapes, removing the blossoms and reserving them for another use, and trimming the tough bottom end off.  Start with a single scape, and trim it to the size of your jar, fitting it in with just over 1/2 inch of headspace.  Use this as your measuring stick, and trim the rest of the scapes to the same length.
3. Pack the scapes into pint or tall pint and a half mason jars.  Add 1 teaspoon dill seed and 1/2 teaspoon of peppercorns and coriander seed to each jar.  For spicy pickles, add 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional).
4. Mix the water, cider vinegar and salt together in a pot and bring to a boil.  Stir to incorporate the salt.
5. Pour the hot vinegar brine over the garlic scapes in mason jars, filling to within 1/2 inch of the top rim.
6. Seal with 2 part canning lids and process in a water bath canner: 10 minutes for pints and 15 for pint and a half or quart jars.
7. Wait at least 2 weeks for the flavors to infuse before eating.  I find they're best at least 6 weeks later, so try to be patient.

Recipe Notes

Yield: Roughly 3 pints (or 2 extra tall pint and a half jars) Canning Method: Water Bath Headspace: 1/2 inch Process Time: 10 Minutes for pints and 15 minutes for 1.5 pint or quart jars