Wild leeks and "ramps" recipes

[big brown horse]

Does anyone around here forage for wild leeks or "ramps"?

I never herd about them before, but I did find a recipe on how to pickle them, thought I'd pass it on. (Someone mentioned them over at BYC.)


Pickled Ramps

Need another way to preserve your ramps aside from encasing them in logs of butter? Follow this recipe for pickled ramps and you'll end up with sweet-and-sour ramps that will extend ramps season a few extra weeks, or even months. The ramps are quickly blanched before pickling to preserve the bright pink and green colors. Chopped up or whole, these are best with roasted meats, fish, or pasta.

Pickled Ramps
Adapted from Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef

- makes about 1 quart -

Ingredients
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon red peppercorns
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 pounds ramps, cleaned and trimmed
Kosher salt for blanching
1 tablespoon salt for the pickling liquid

Procedure
1. Trim the ends off of the ramps and cut down the leaves leaving about 1/4 inch of green, saving the green ends for another purpose. Wash the ramps under cool, running water.

2. Blanch the ramps quickly (30 seconds) by dropping them in a large pot of salted, boiling water, and then shock them in ice water. Drain the ramps well and place them in a mason jar.

3. Combine the vinegar, salt, sugar, and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf, mustard seeds, coriander, pink and white peppercorns, and fennel seeds.

4. Pour the hot vinegar mixture over the ramps in the mason jar and let cool, sealing tight and transferring to the refrigerator.

Notes
In the refrigerator these pickled ramps will last a few weeks to a couple of months. If you follow traditional, safe canning techniques, these will last for a few months, or until you eat them all, which ever comes first.


I'm sure these can be fermented as well. In that case, would we just omit the vinegar and sugar and add more salt?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Oooh, we used to forage wild leeks up north--haven't had them in years.

there you go making me miss the north again!

 

[big brown horse]

http://theforagerpress.com/fieldguide/aprilfd.htm

Another recipe:
Salmon with Spring Leeks in a Wild Mushroom Wine Sauce

Let me warn you this recipe can be addicting.
Here's what you'll need!
Salmon Filets for four people (about 2 lbs, preferably skinned)
Juice of half an orange or a few tlbs of bottled OJ
1/3 cup fresh Leek greens sliced across in 3/4 inch strips
1/2 clove of finley choped garlic
1/2 to 3/4 lb of fresh wild mushrooms or and ounce of dry mushrooms. This recipe is unbelievable with Black Trumpets (Craterellus fallax or cornucopioides) though Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) or any True Morels work too.
I've never tried store bought buttons with this but I might try it some day!
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of vegetable or fish broth
1/4 cup of heavy cream (or half and half will do)
1/2 a stick of butter

Put the Salmon on a plate and cover with the orange juice.
Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
If using dry mushrooms reconstitute them by warming them in a pan with the wine for five minutes (or longer depending on the mushrooms). If you get to a boil turn it down to low and simmer. Set them aside and consider straining the wine if the mushrooms were gritty. There's Nothing worse than sand in your teeth to ruin a great meal. Chop the mushrooms to bite size. Melt the butter and add the garlic for a few seconds then the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are cooked stir in the leek greens until wilted and dark green. Then add the stock and wine and reduce by half. Butter and broil your fish while reducing the sauce. When reduced add the cream and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Spoon the mushrooms onto plates and place the fish on top. Garnish with finly cut leek greens and or orange zest. Serve with Asparagus and roasted potatoes. This is livin'!

-Roy Reehil

 

[big brown horse]

Steamed Fiddleheads with Wild Leek Greens

Ingredients:

1 pound Fiddleheads cleaned
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, or to taste
3 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard
3 tablespoons finely chopped Wild Leek greens
Steam the fiddleheads over boiling water for 5 minutes,or until they are crisp-tender. Drain, then chill in a bowl of ice and cold water to stop the cooking. When they have cooled transfer to colander to drain.


In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice, mustard, wild leek greens. Add salt and pepper to taste, whisking until the sauce is smooth. Serve the Fiddleheads topped with the sauce.

Serves 4 to 6
http://www.wild-harvest.com/pages/recipe.htm#recipe2

Looks like wild leeks and ramps grow over in the east. (areas of WV and NY)

 

[hwillm1977]

I LOVE this one... mmmm... I make this with leeks from the garden, I've never seen a wild leek, so I guess I should have checked if it's the same.

Ginger Leek Chicken (chinese stir-fry)

Ingredients (Seves 4)
2 cups brown rice
8 pieces skinless chicken thighs or 4 chicken breasts cut in bite size pieces
1 Tsp freshly grated ginger
2 large leeks, finely sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
2 tsp chili flakes
1/4 cup oil (canola, olive or sunflower)

Instructions
Cook rice according to instructions on package.
In a pot, boil enough water to cover chicken thighs. When water has boiled, gently place chicken in pot and bring back to a boil.
Place lid on and turn element off and let chicken stand for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan, cover next 7 ingredients with oil and heat thoroughly for 2 minutes.
Cut chicken into pieces, toss with sauce and serve with rice.

 

[sylvie]

Great subject!
I use ramps for creamy leek potato soup.
I like them raw when hiking.

Over the years I have planted many on my property in the rich woodland soil adjacent to the creeks. They are slow to multiply which gives me great appreciation for the ancient age of the large drifts that occur in the wild. Those stands must be 50 to 100 years old or more. My 20 year old stands are nothing, adding only 1 or 2 bulbs per year. I don't harvest unless I am going to use them immediately.

If I want to interact with other humans I have to keep my ramp and garlic consumption limited to days that I don't have anything else going on. My pores and breath reek of those two foods.

 

[freemotion]

Pickled Ramps
Adapted from Tom Colicchio's Think Like a Chef

- makes about 1 quart -

Ingredients
1 cup white wine vinegar
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon red peppercorns
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
1 bay leaf
2 pounds ramps, cleaned and trimmed
Kosher salt for blanching
1 tablespoon salt for the pickling liquid




I'm sure these can be fermented as well. In that case, would we just omit the vinegar and sugar and add more salt?

Looks like they'd ferment nicely. Salt amount looks right. I will be using the leaf-with-a-rock method in many of my jars this year to keep the stuff under the brine better.

I've been looking for ramps ever since the foraging thread of last year. I know I've seen them throughout my lifetime, not knowing what they were, but have not found any since I've been seriously looking.

Don't eat fiddleheads raw, as the recipe seemed to suggest. They need to be cooked or they will make you sick. The best kind are from ostrich ferns, which grow by running water like brooks and rivers, and like cooler temps. They have a brown papery covering...other ferns have a hairy covering in the fiddlehead stage. Mature ostrich ferns are about 4-6' tall and gorgeous, not to be confused with the more common interrupted ferns, which look like a small section of the leaflets mid-stem are dead or missing...hence the name, interrupted ferns.

 

[kcsunshine]

If you want ramps, come down to Cosby, TN the 1st weekend of May. They have a ramp festival - and a good smelly time is had by all!

 

[Dace]

http://theforagerpress.com/fieldguide/aprilfd.htm

Another recipe:
Salmon with Spring Leeks in a Wild Mushroom Wine Sauce

Let me warn you this recipe can be addicting.
Here's what you'll need!
Salmon Filets for four people (about 2 lbs, preferably skinned)
Juice of half an orange or a few tlbs of bottled OJ
1/3 cup fresh Leek greens sliced across in 3/4 inch strips
1/2 clove of finley choped garlic
1/2 to 3/4 lb of fresh wild mushrooms or and ounce of dry mushrooms. This recipe is unbelievable with Black Trumpets (Craterellus fallax or cornucopioides) though Chanterelles (Cantharellus cibarius) or any True Morels work too.
I've never tried store bought buttons with this but I might try it some day!
1/2 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of vegetable or fish broth
1/4 cup of heavy cream (or half and half will do)
1/2 a stick of butter

Put the Salmon on a plate and cover with the orange juice.
Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
If using dry mushrooms reconstitute them by warming them in a pan with the wine for five minutes (or longer depending on the mushrooms). If you get to a boil turn it down to low and simmer. Set them aside and consider straining the wine if the mushrooms were gritty. There's Nothing worse than sand in your teeth to ruin a great meal. Chop the mushrooms to bite size. Melt the butter and add the garlic for a few seconds then the mushrooms. When the mushrooms are cooked stir in the leek greens until wilted and dark green. Then add the stock and wine and reduce by half. Butter and broil your fish while reducing the sauce. When reduced add the cream and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Spoon the mushrooms onto plates and place the fish on top. Garnish with finly cut leek greens and or orange zest. Serve with Asparagus and roasted potatoes. This is livin'!

-Roy Reehil

Oh that looks good!!!