More With Garlic Scapes: Stir Fry with Chicken and Snow Peas

June 7, 2012 · Filed under Food Suggestions, Plant Suggestions, Recipe · Tagged garlic scapes, hen o' the woods mushrooms, stir fry, stir fry method

Stir Fry of Chicken, Mushrooms and Vegetables (Note the fork. I am inept with chopsticks)

The garlic scapes are coming on strong now so I made a stir fry using them.  I used one boneless, skinless cubed chicken breast that I marinated for half and hour in Tamari sauce (soy sauce) as the protein and for vegetables, snow peas, garlic scapes, onion, asparagus and some sweet red bell pepper for color.  I added mushrooms using some of the Hen o’ the Woods that I collected last fall, sauteed and froze.  These are probably too many vegetables for a purist, but I must use what is fresh in the garden while it is at its peak and stir fry is unsurpassed for this.  The trick with stir fry is advance preparation.  Have everything sliced and arranged in order of how you plan to add it to your wok ahead of time.  Mix the final thickening sauce and have it ready in a side dish to add at the end.  Have any spices you wish to add (I added red pepper seeds) ready to go.  I used brown rice that takes 45 minutes to cook so I began that ahead of time and did the rest of my preparation while it was cooking.

Clockwise from upper left: onions, mushrooms, snow peas and asparagus tips, red pepper pod (to break open for seeds), red bell pepper, asparagus stems; and center- garlic scapes. Thickening sauce, chicken broth and soy sauce at the sides

1.  First drain any marinade and cook the chicken pieces in the wok, stir frying them in hot oil (I used safflower which is less likely to smoke with a few drops of sesame oil for flavor).  Remove and set aside.

2.  Add the vegtables, putting in the ones that take the longest to cook first.  For my combination, it went like this:

• onions & mushrooms – stir fry about three minutes then add red pepper seeds and any other seasonings;
• asparagus stems and garlic scapes – stir fry about 1 minute;
• red pepper, snow peas and asparagus tips – stir fry one minute.

3.  Pour in about 1/2 C. of chicken broth, add back the chicken and cook about 1 to 2 minutes more, until the chicken heats back up.

4.  Add the final thickening sauce which is 1 Tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/4 C. chicken broth with a Tbsp. of soy sauce.  Stir until the sauce clears and thickens.  Serve over rice.

All Ready for the Rice