511085 Sun Apr 20 06:12:19 -0700 2008 32 31 Home Cooking 0 3611637 Yahoo - it's that time of year again when ramps are in season. I just got 6 bunches at the greenmarket yesterday and am looking forward to cooking with them. Last year I made a baked dish using the ramps, some purple potatoes, garlic, olive oil, a dash of red pepper flakes and vegetable stock in a casserole dish and baking. It was wonderful, truly allowing the ramps to be the dominant flavor. Today, I'll make a frittata with ramps (I'm making a nice brunch for DH who just ran a RR race this a.m.). I have a potted lemon thyme plant; so I think I'll use some of that with it. I am also eager to try monavano's ramps crepes from this thread http://www.chowhound.com/topics/509367. That sounds truly delicious. Sometimes we just eat them sauteed with a little garlic. What are you making with your ramps? Has anyone eaten them raw? Any new ideas or old favorites? I would love to hear them! Sun Apr 20 06:12:19 -0700 2008 104084 LNG212 1 3611974 Just wanted to report that a frittata made with ramps was wonderful. The flavor goes well with the eggs. I had an aged comte on hand and used that as well. Sun Apr 20 09:27:19 -0700 2008 3611637 104084 LNG212 2 3612138 I was just going to say that that frittata sounds wonderful... aged comte makes it over the top! I know what I'm doing next weekend for brunch... Sun Apr 20 10:24:11 -0700 2008 3611974 185225 Pigloader 1 3611987 I just bought some ramps at the Farmer's Market yesterday. I'm so excited! I've been thinking of how I can use them. Maybe a little stir-fry with shrimp. Or sauteeing them and using them as a bed for seared scallops. Roasting with onions and chicken. Sauteeing in onions and garlic and mixing with pasta. Sun Apr 20 09:32:16 -0700 2008 3611637 78343 rachaeltb 2 3611994 Have you roasted them before? How do the green parts come out when roasting? I roasted some potatoes this a.m. to go with the frittata and was going to toss some ramps in there too but then I hesitated because I wasn't sure if the green parts would work right. Sun Apr 20 09:34:28 -0700 2008 3611987 104084 LNG212 1 3611999 Pardon my ignorance..I didn't realize wild leeks are also called ramps. We've been enjoying wild leek in onion soup recipes for years! Sun Apr 20 09:35:40 -0700 2008 3611637 36312 HillJ 2 3612010 I never knew ramps were wild leeks! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_leek Sun Apr 20 09:40:31 -0700 2008 3611999 10985 MMRuth 2 3612019 I didn't know that at first either until a few years ago the newspaper did some reporting on the festival in (I think) West Virginia. As for the soup, do you use the greens in the soup too? It sounds good. Sun Apr 20 09:42:25 -0700 2008 3611999 104084 LNG212 3 3612033 LNG212 yes the entire leek is used in preparation and my dh makes pan toasted bread cubes to go along with and adds a nice chop of the greens to the pan ( along w/truffle oil, s&p) while preparing them. Sun Apr 20 09:45:58 -0700 2008 3612019 36312 HillJ 2 3630113 http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/242027 ramp soup Fri Apr 25 13:48:28 -0700 2008 3611999 36312 HillJ 3 3664068 another delish recipe using ramps is this compound butter published by Serious Eats: http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2008/05/ramps-wild-leeks-compound-butters.html Wed May 07 05:22:07 -0700 2008 3630113 36312 HillJ 1 3612563 We make pickled ramps. Put in glass jars and enjoy ourselves and give for gifts. Mother's Day is coming up! Last year our mothers received jars of pickled ramps from us and we got lots of good feedback. Sun Apr 20 13:42:54 -0700 2008 3611637 123744 karykat 2 3612595 Could you tell me how you make that? I've never tried pickled ramps; and I do like other pickled vegetables, so it might be for me! Sun Apr 20 13:59:36 -0700 2008 3612563 104084 LNG212 3 3612986 I use a recipe from Tom Collichio's book Think Like a Chef. It is very similar to the first pickled ramp recipe in the link that MB has supplied. Collichio uses 1 cup sugar instead of the 1/2 cup sugar plus 1/2 cup honey. I'm sure both work great. Collichio uses similar spices except that he adds a bay leaf and leaves out the chile pepper. His recipe is for about two pounds of ramps. We should have ramps showing up here any day now I would think. They are one of the first fresh things to come into the market. Sun Apr 20 16:45:22 -0700 2008 3612595 123744 karykat 1 3612862 Here are a few recipes here: http://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe0507a.htm I just bought ramps to cook at home and I'm thinking that I'll do a simple ramps with pasta dish. Sun Apr 20 15:58:56 -0700 2008 3611637 15312 MB fka MB 2 3614370 I made ramps with spagetti and it was fantastic! Just saute in olive oil with salt and pepper, toss with some pasta, and add a bit of grated cheese if you wish. OMG it was so unbelievably good. Strange how the ramps actually inflate like a balloon when they get hot in the pan. Hmmmm?? it was like they were alive and squirming, totally weird. Mon Apr 21 07:50:36 -0700 2008 3612862 15312 MB fka MB 1 3621438 Saw this recipe in the NYT this morning - risotto, w/ ramp pesto, made for the Pope in NYC: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/dining/231rrex.html?ref=dining Wed Apr 23 04:30:01 -0700 2008 3611637 10985 MMRuth 2 3621460 Thanks. I have this recipe (it's a little old) from New York Magazine that's also for ramps risotto. ( http://nymag.com/listings/recipe/ramp-risotto/ ) Now I'll have to decide which one to make. Wed Apr 23 04:56:24 -0700 2008 3621438 104084 LNG212 3 3625169 I made this last night as an appetizer when I noticed that I had just a little less than a cup of arborio rice hanging around. I did use a whole bunch of ramps, rather than just the four called for, and added some of the greens right at the end. It was delicious - thanks for posting the recipe. I did leave the ramps unattended for too long in the olive oil, so some of them got a bit brown, which they shouldn't have, but that didn't cause a problem - I kind of liked it actually. Edit - for some reason the link isn't working for me this morning - I was checking to see if I made any other changes. Thu Apr 24 06:48:55 -0700 2008 3621460 10985 MMRuth 4 3627379 I made the risotto tonight. I took your cue and added a bunch of ramps instead of just four. It was very tasty. I think I'll make this again next week (when the weather is supposed to cool down again). Thu Apr 24 16:34:33 -0700 2008 3625169 104084 LNG212 1 3621487 Thanks to Monavano for the ramps crepes recipe. Wow were they good! I had to control myself from nibbling at the crepes as I was cooking them! For the filling I used roasted mushrooms and more ramps (and white wine, lemon thyme, pepper) - the flavors of the mushrooms and ramps together was wonderful. Now I'll have to try Monavano's Pecorino and Ramps gnocchi, also mentioned in the earlier thread. Wed Apr 23 05:27:05 -0700 2008 3611637 104084 LNG212 2 3664917 Great LNG212!! I think this weekend will be the last of the ramps for the season this year. I'm going to look for them at the farmers market. Wed May 07 09:53:08 -0700 2008 3621487 65673 monavano 3 3677127 I got some at Union Square greenmarket on Friday; the vendor said she should have more next weekend, too. Mmm. Yes, I've tried them raw. I liked them fine but was not beloved by my co-workers or husband. Sun May 11 14:28:24 -0700 2008 3664917 138056 mshenna 4 3677135 I heard one of the vendors say yesterday that there might be a couple more weeks of ramps. Sun May 11 14:34:12 -0700 2008 3677127 10985 MMRuth 1 3622992 pesto! My husband's family in Germany always makes buckets of it. We just had some ramp and ricotta omelets for dinner. Scrumptious. Wed Apr 23 12:17:42 -0700 2008 3611637 22624 relizabeth 1 3623390 I'm just back from picking ramps and I have the final chunk of last fall's Salmon from our freezer thawing on our counter. I don't know how this will turn out, but I intend to briefly sear the fish skin down in bacon grease, remove the fish, sautee the chopped white parts of my ramps till soft, add the leaves and let them wilt, and then add the fish and some white wine. Next I'll add a white sauce with sour cream, a few sliced mushrooms, capers and maybe some bits of red pepper. Salt and pepper only. Then into the oven till the fish is flaky I'm curious to see how the Salmon's and ramps' tastes combine. Wed Apr 23 13:49:03 -0700 2008 3611637 55318 DockPotato 2 3623403 I think that sounds lovely, and the idea of the ramps and salmon together is great, but I wonder if the capers will overwhelm the ramps? Wed Apr 23 13:51:01 -0700 2008 3623390 10985 MMRuth 3 3623569 Yes the capers might do just that, and should I do the leaves separately? No! The leaves stay and I'll add capers on the plate if need be. Wed Apr 23 14:34:33 -0700 2008 3623403 55318 DockPotato 1 3628190 Yes... I have eaten them raw many times as I am sure many others have also. In fact, fresh dug raw ramps are my favorite way to eat them. I have also frozen them for later use and pickled them. They can be used just about any place you might use onion and/or garlic. Ramps and fried potatoes are quite popular and I have used them in things like spaghetti sauce and meat loaf. One thing I have never really heard anyone discuss is the two main varieties in West Virginia that I have found. I find the typical ramps with the purple tinted stalk which can be quite spicy hot and seems to be what most people have. Then there are the ramps with green stalks which seem very sweet and never hot... I love eating this kind fresh and cool from just having been dug. Fri Apr 25 01:41:15 -0700 2008 3611637 186756 Nothing_Tangible 1 3650066 I found patches of ramps near where we're building our new house and made buckwheat crepes with eggs bacon and ramps. http://doghillkitchen.blogspot.com/2008/04/buckwheat-crepes-and-ramps.html Fri May 02 09:22:00 -0700 2008 3611637 143888 maggiehc 1 3664217 these ramp dumplings look good: http://chimeraobscura.com/mi/category/vegetables/ Wed May 07 06:37:36 -0700 2008 3611637 105717 alkapal 1 3664916 they go great on the grill! roasted, and sauteed. sometimes i'll separate the greens and toss them in with other greens like Rabe, or collards Wed May 07 09:53:06 -0700 2008 3611637 135178 TSQ75 1 4727666 I was able to stretch the season by grabbing some late-foraged ramps in upstate NY while visiting family. They are the best I've had and though I didn't buy any at NYC greenmarkets (too expensive!!) I had them in every restaurant meal from April through early May and none of them were this wonderfully tasty (or adorably knobby). I used the first half simply grilled with olive oil, s + p along with a grilled whole salmon. Last night I used a few in place of onions/scallions in spaghetti alla bottarga and it was really, really good. Just chopped very coarsely and lightly browned in butter, then combined with spaghetti, a bit more butter, the grated bottarga, lemon zest and parsley. Sat May 30 08:32:14 -0700 2009 3611637 179567 hennybee