oh spring, you have finally arrived. with spring, apparently in NY culinary circles (or more commonly in West Virginia) comes ramps, wild leeks, Allium tricoccum. Super pungent wild member of the allium fammily, tastes like a garlicky spring onion. I'd never eaten them before, but I'm seduced. Apparently its not possible (or preferred) to cultivate them, so they must be hunted on semi-wild lands which, naturally makes them cost more. I'm sure I paid too much for a wild plant that i could find if I only had a place to look, but alas, i don't. They're only available a few weeks a year, which is now, at the Park Slope Co-Op, or from the nice meat-sellers at the Prospect Park farmer's market (i think it's these guys: www.dinesfarms.net) maybe some other places. I jumped on a bunch from the maple sausage guys at PPk (another temptation for another post); thought i could find them growing wild in Prospect Park (fail), and
had to buy them again at the Co-op today. Thought I'd post recipies:
Spaghetti with Ramps - this seems to be one of the more common recipes i saw, so i made my own adaptation - sauteed chopped ramps in olive oil (yep, the whole plant) tossed w/ hot (drained but not shaken) pasta, a hunk of goat cheese swirled around to melt onto the pasta, salt, pepper. Good but lacking sparkle, some lemon, red pepper flake might help, and maybe some butter to add some fat to dilute the ramps (does that work?).
Avocado-Ramp Potato Salad - this for dinner tonight w/ homemade blackbean cheeseburgers (it's hot almost like summer here i wanted picnic food). very pungent! with garlic instead of ramps, this is my favorite pasta salad dressing. about 4 side servings.
put
1 lb potatoes on to boil
mash
1 avocado in a large bowl, dress with juice of
1 lime (or lemon),
~1/2 C olive oilfine chop root end and stems of about
5 ramps & toss in bowl
add
fistful of basil, finely chopped &
~1tbsp salt (way more than you think you'd need but the avacado seems to want it), hearty grinds of
pepper. stir, let sit while potatoes are cooking.
when potatoes are fork tender, drain and chop in to bite size pieces, add hot to avaocado dressing.
mix potatoes & dressing w/ spatula. season to taste w/ S+P.
now, you can dress with any number of additions; we put in
sugar snap peas, feta, capers.
other good additions might include artichoke hearts, tomatoes, good tuna chunks, blanched green beans, pickles, pickled beets? pickled okra? Anything with flavor strong or different enough to combat the ramps. if you wanted milder flavor, you could saute the ramps, i'm sure that'd help at least a little bit, but part of their charm i think is that they're stinky.
serve and kiss the person you're eating with because they have ramp breath, too. it doesn't matter.
apparently, according to JR, the WVA way to eat them is to fry them in bacon grease (like everything else), but we haven't really committed to a baconatarian lifestyle yet. they seem to be often eaten with hashbrowns & eggs, which sounds like an awesome breakfast, too.
any other suggestions? i've got a few left!
p.s. - photo by
Dave Smooth, naturally.
adventures in fire escape gardening-
the spinach in late may. see the red chard spouts behind it? we let it take over...
the red chard harvest of this week - a good fist full, maybe a $3 bunch at the farmer's market, but about one serving in the pan. but i grew it!
oh spring, you have finally arrived. with spring, apparently in NY culinary circles (or more commonly in West Virginia) comes ramps, wild leeks, Allium tricoccum. Super pungent wild member of the allium fammily, tastes like a garlicky spring onion. I'd never eaten them before, but I'm seduced. Apparently its not possible (or preferred) to cultivate them, so they must be hunted on semi-wild lands which, naturally makes them cost more. I'm sure I paid too much for a wild plant that i could find if I only had a place to look, but alas, i don't. They're only available a few weeks a year, which is now, at the Park Slope Co-Op, or from the nice meat-sellers at the Prospect Park farmer's market (i think it's these guys: www.dinesfarms.net) maybe some other places. I jumped on a bunch from the maple sausage guys at PPk (another temptation for another post); thought i could find them growing wild in Prospect Park (fail), and had to buy them again at the Co-op today. Thought I'd post recipies:
2008 although strange & difficult in many ways, was a great year in the kitchen for us. Aside from simple meals like cheese grits with Uncle Bruthas hot sauce, desserts containing booze, meals with friends that make us say 'we are so good at this!' & a tattered Joy of Cooking bringing the old fashioned American baked goods like biscuits & pie crust back into our house, there's been a number of all-day cooking extravaganzas and adventures in eating this year. Partially, I think this is because of our decreased pocketbooks and increased interest in sustainability, self-sufficiency, and decreasing the amount of food waste we create. Partially, it's because of our gastronaut leanings, wanting to explore all the kinds of things we can eat and prepare and the challenge of stretching a meal or ingredient as far as it will go, deliciously.
at work, i get a pic mail from dave that says: 'I bought us a delicious monster.' fearfully, i look this monster up online. it's weird. i'm afraid. it's at my house. and it's shedding it's skin.
Dave flicked off the scales ready to fall and cut a slice. Its smells okay, vaguely tropical and citrusy. he bites into it, i'm poised with camera for reaction shot (& phone for poison control) and.... he likes it!
big seeds in it which are a surprise. the back of my throat is a little tingly. I've eaten it and i lived. the other half rots in the fridge. sorry.
