Butter doesn't always get the credit it deserves in shrimp scampi, does it? It's the first thing you smell as the dish hits the dining table, and the last thing you taste when chasing down the last drop of sauce on the plate - a flavor thread tied into every ingredient. You weave it into sizzling garlic pieces, wrap its buttery scent around tender shrimp, and simmer it into the most enticing, velvety smooth sauce.
Garlic scapes pop up in late spring and early summer, the flower stems of garlic plants. Trimmed before they bloom, they have a fresh garlicky flavor with a texture and sweetness similar to other spring vegetables like green beans or asparagus. They have a short season, so you should act fast if you see garlic scapes at the grocery store or farmers' market.
Butter and salt aim to enhance corn's rich taste, but lemon juice is an ingredient that really makes the vegetable stand out. The citrus adds a zesty quality to corn, brightening the juicy kernels. Lemon's tart taste has an undercurrent of sweetness to it, so it doesn't reduce corn's honeyed flavor. Instead, it enhances it while providing the veggie with an acidic boost.