Garlic Scape Pesto

At the farmers' market this summer, I was introduced to the world of garlic scapes by my favorite organic farmer (tall, skinny man in overalls with a long grey beard and straw hat...classic).
Scapes are the green chutes of the garlic that grow out of the ground, and are quite delicious.  He taught me to make a pesto with them.   I put the bunch of scapes, olive oil, S&P, and parmigiano in the food processor (adding olive oil / cheese to balance out the consistency to a nice pesto) and chop minimally, so it remains somewhat chunky.  The scapes have a nice mild flavor and it was great as a cold pesto salad.  Here it is-

Tarragon Panko Chicken with Sherry Shallot Sauce

This is one of our favorite recipes.  My mom invented it, and it's a common chicken dish in our household that we just love!

Chicken is one thing that is hard for us to find from small local farms.  We do have one local farm where we buy our eggs that has whole chickens from time to time but not consistently.  So, unfortunately chicken is the one meat product that we do have to purchase at the grocery store.  We purchase Readington Farms chicken products because they are fed a vegetarian diet and Free Farmed certified by the AHA:

· Readington Farms offers a line of the highest quality all natural, fresh white meat chicken products. Readington Farms is the first poultry company in the world to meet the Free Farmed standards set forth by the American Humane Association. Readington Farms chickens are free of antibiotics, chemical medicines, growth stimulants and hormones.

So, to the recipe.

1pkg chx breasts
panko bread crumbs
the zest of one lemon
dried tarragon
shallot
cooking sherry
white of one egg
vegetable oil
1 cup chicken broth. (I use Pacific):

I slice the chicken breasts in half so they are thin.

Whisk the egg white with s&p and dried tarragon in a bowl.

Put panko breadcrumbs on a plate and add the zest of one lemon and some dried tarragon.

Put the chicken first in the egg mixture, then press with panko mixture, and place aside on a plate. Repeat for all chicken pieces.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large pan. Add chicken pieces and cook until golden brown.

At the same time, add butter and sliced shallot in a separate small saucepan (Or onion if you don't have shallot). Brown shallot.

Add chx broth and about 1cup of sherry to the shallot pan. Let this simmer.

If the chicken is all done, keep warm in the oven.  Thicken the sauce with a bit of flour & water

Voila! Serve with fresh veggies and rice!

Welcome!

So here's my first post!

I decided to start a blog to document my journey of cooking, gardening, and eventually farming at our home in rural NJ. My primary concerns are eating healthy, organic, and as sustainably as possible. My husband and I are striving to be better gastroactivists in our daily life.

Gas·tro·ac·tiv·ist (gas’troh-ak-tuh-vist)

n. One who makes informed and empowered food choices with the awareness that what they eat has a direct impact on the health of themselves and the planet

Thanks to http://sustainablepantry.com/about/ for the word!