Wild Ramp & Lemon Risotto - A Spring Feast!

As I mentioned in my post about harvesting these beautiful ramps, I planned to make a few tasty things with my haul. Risotto was at the very top of that list but, sadly, I did not have any Arborio rice in the house the day I harvested the ramps - quel dommage!

I had to settle for making my second choice - wild ramp and parsley pesto (which was delicious) and writing "ARBORIO RICE!!!" on the grocery list.

I am a big fan of risotto - it's creamy, filling, hearty, as well as a perfect palette for flavors both subtle and bold. As I was reading through recipes online (I looked at Scott Conant's recipe in NY Magazine and DOC's recipe on The Kitchn), I KNEW the combination of the garlicky ramps, fresh, floral lemon and creamy risotto would be delicious.

I began by separating the ramp stalks from the leaves so that I'd be able to cook each part for the best flavor and consistency.

You don't add the chopped up greens until the very end of cooking, then you fold them into the risotto, along with the lemon zest and Parmesan cheese.

Just a little lemon zest adds a world of light flavor to this dish. And thanks to my beloved microplane zester, it only takes a few seconds to produce a lovely little pile of zest.

The first step of the cooking process is to sautée the chopped ramp stalks and shallot in butter.

Once the ramp stalks and shallot have softened, you add the Arborio rice and sautée it for a few minutes, stirring all the while, until the edges of each grain of rice edges become opaque and the center turns white.

Then comes the tedious part - add stock and stir repeatedly until it's absorbed. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat...

Just when you begin to fear that your arm may actually drop off from all the stirring, it's time to fold in the ramp greens, lemon zest and grated Parmesan cheese!

Stir well to ensure even distribution of these yummy late-stage additions.

Now it's time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.Yum!

Wild Ramp & Lemon Risotto
 Serves 4-6
 

Ingredients

* 1 large bunch of wild ramps (8-10), cleaned and trimmed with the roots removed (instructions here)
* 2 large shallots
* 2 Tbps olive oil or butter
* 7 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock
* 2 cups Arborio rice (risotto)
* 1/2 cup dry white wine
* 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
* 1 Tbsp lemon zest (use an organic lemon - you don't want any yucky pesticides or wax)
* Sea salt
* Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Separate the ramp stalks from the greens and chop each, keeping them separate. Finely chop the shallots.


2. Heat the stock in a saucepan (you'll want to position this right behind whatever burner you plan to use for the risotto pan since you're going to be ladling stock into the pan continuously during the cooking process.) Cover the stock and leave it on low at a simmer (it will need to stay hot the entire time you're cooking the risotto.)

3. In a large, heavy bottomed pan (there are special risotto pans but although nice, they're not necessary) melt the butter and cook the onion on medium-low heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

4. Add the rice and stir to coat all the grains with butter. Sautée the rice for 2-3 minutes until the rice becomes chalky and you can see a white dot in the center of each grain. Then add the wine and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until it's been absorbed.

5. Now the fun begins (by the end of this, your arm will be very tired!) Add one cup of the hot stock to the pan and stir until it has all been absorbed by the rice - if you don't stir and cook until the liquid is absorbed with each addition, the rice will get very gummy).

6. Continue to add stock, one cup at a time, stirring constantly until the rice has absorbed the liquid and starts to seem dry before adding more stock. Once you've added 6 cups of the stock, you should start adding 1/2 cup at a time. Keep doing this until the rice is cooked through but still a little al dente, about 30 minutes total (you may not end up using all of the stock but it should be pretty close -- if you run out of stock, you can substitute hot water towards the end.)

8. Turn off the heat, add the chopped ramp greens, lemon zest, and Parmesan cheese, mix well to incorporate, then season with salt (if needed) and freshly ground black pepper, and serve.

You might also like:

• Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto
• Wild Ramp & Parsley Pesto
• Grilled Ramps
• Quinoa & Spinach Gratin

Deviled Easter Eggs

Will had his first Easter egg hunt on Sunday. Miraculously, the near ceaseless rain we've been having lately even paused for a few hours to allow for a relatively dry experience.

My husband and I had stayed up late on Saturday night to dye the eggs - something neither of us had done in many, many years! Due to an early crack up and two more in the pot, we only had nine eggs to work with, but we did what we could and headed to bed. Here they are - freshly dyed and smelling slightly of vinegar.

Come Sunday morning, once Will's grandmothers had arrived to distract him, we hid the eggs in fairly obvious spots around the yard so that he could not fail to find them. It was totally worth it to see Will's delighted expression and hear him cry excitedly, "I SEE IT!" and "I FOUND IT!"

And even though we only had nine eggs, we got a lot of mileage out of 'em because Will asked "Should we hide them again?" as soon as he'd found the last one. And it was still fun the third and fourth time, too. Here are some of the remaining eggs, post-hunt, looking a little worse for the wear.

When the novelty finally wore off I knew it was time to make deviled eggs. This is my favorite way to use up leftover Easter eggs - truly a tasty way end to the holiday. I used fresh dill, scallions, horseradish, mustard, mayo and organic relish in this batch and they were quite tasty. But don't feel hemmed in by my choices -- there are lots of great variations on deviled eggs and you should feel free to try something else, too.

I'm not including an actual recipe since it's so simple - all you do is chop up your filling ingredients, cut the eggs in half, scoop out the yolks, mash them up with the things you've chopped as well as any condiments usually some mayo (though you could use yogurt), mustard, etc., to make the filling and mound it back in the egg halves. Then eat.

You might also like:

• Curried Egg Salad
• Frittata With Chevre, New Potatoes & Fresh Herbs
• Grandpa Joe's Eggs
• Late Summer Frittata With Sweet Pepper, Tomato, Onion, Basil & Sausage
• Poached Egg Sandwich With Watercress & Shallot

GiveAway: Super Natural Every Day by 101 Cookbook's Heidi Swanson

Have you ever read 101 Cookbooks, Heidi Swanson's gorgeous blog featuring her innovative, fresh vegetarian recipes? If not, you should!

101 Cookbooks tops pretty much every list of favorite food blogs I've ever seen. And for good reason - Heidi's take on food is inspiring, her writing is open and appealing, and her photos celebrate the earthy beauty of the year-round bounty of fruits and veggies at her disposal in Marin County, CA (sigh, I really do miss the Bay Area sometimes...) She's also got a unique visual style that's both rustic and also playfully modern.

Heidi's new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day was published earlier this month and instantly climbed to the top 50 books on Amazon. My copy arrived in the mail on Saturday and I've been thumbing through it ever since, drooling and marking recipes to test out AS SOON AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. Topping my must-try list are: pomegranate glazed eggplant with tempeh, chickpeas with dandelion greens (hurray for more local foraging!), farro soup, wild rice casserole, stuffed tomatoes, and yogurt biscuits.

But let me cut to the chase - you, dear reader, can win a copy of this luscious, inspiring cookbook! 

It's easy - all you have to do is leave a comment telling me about your favorite vegetarian recipe. If you have a link to the recipe handy and would like to include that in your comment, go for it, if not, that's fine, too.

 

You can either leave your comment in response to this post OR on my Facebook page - whatever is easiest for you.

You must submit your comment telling me about your favorite vegetarian dish by Saturday, May 7th. I'll choose the winner randomly from all of the complete entries and will email her or him a tout de suite to share the good news and get the address for where to send the book.

In the meantime, if you can't wait to start cooking (or are not feeling lucky), you can also buy the book right now and/or check out Heidi's free six recipe sampler.

I look forward to hearing from you. And good luck!

Wild Ramp & Parsley Pesto

As promised, here is the recipe for the delicious pesto we made with some of the ramps I brought home the other day. You'll like this - it's got a fresh, rampy flavor that screams "SPRING!" And God knows we could use some spring up in this joint -- I practically cried this morning when I saw that there was frikking snow on the ground!

The thing that makes this pesto so addictive is that the ramps are lightly sautéed before they go into the food processor. This mellows their characteristic garlicky bite (which also prevents you from becoming a social pariah for a full day after eating it) and brings out their sweetness. My husband hit on this method for taking the edge off the garlic in basil pesto a few years ago and we've never looked back.

Parsley adds another note of light, fresh flavor, and pinenuts, olive oil and parmesan cheese add richness to round out the combination.

I served the pesto over pasta with pimenton-crusted, pan-fried salmon. I wished I'd had some asparagus to grill as a side to go with the meal but I'd used up all of my baby-free time for the day hunting for and cleaning the ramps so there was no time for grocery shopping!

If you'd prefer to use walnuts or roasted almonds in place of the pine nuts, feel free. Also, the quantities below are only guidelines - everything is open to interpretation. After all, it's pretty hard to screw up pesto.

Wild Ramp & Parsley Pesto

Makes roughly 2/3 cup

Ingredients

* A dozen wild leeks, cleaned and prepared

* 1 cup fresh parsley, rinsed, dried and with the stems removed

* 1/2 cup pine nuts, walnuts or roasted almonds

* 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, Romano or Pecorino cheese

* Olive oil

* Sea salt, to taste

* Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Coarsely chop the ramps, separating the green leaves from the white stems. Add olive oil to a pan over medium heat and add the white parts of the leek stems. After about two minutes, toss in the chopped ramp greens and stir. Sautée the ramps until they are just cooked through, you do not want to brown them.

2. Dump the sautéed ramps, parsley, cheese, and nuts into the bowl of a food processor or blender and add a few glugs of good olive oil. Process the mixture until it's all ground then stop to taste it and add the salt and black pepper to taste. Process again for a few seconds to mix well, then taste again and adjust the flavors as needed -- you can add more nuts, cheese, salt, oil, etc., depending on the flavor and consistency you're going for.

3. If you make enough to have any left over, put in an airtight container in the fridge. I prefer glass to plastic for storage.

You might also like:

• Harvesting Wild Ramps: A How-To
• Wild Ramp & Lemon Risotto
• Grilled Ramps
• Chimichurri Sauce
• On the Hunt for Wild Greens - Miner's Lettuce

Harvesting Wild Ramps

I've been eagerly scanning the roadsides and woods the last few weeks in the hopes of spotting some of these elusive wild ramps everyone's been raving about. After several frustratingly fruitless walks in the woods and along stream beds, I finally hit pay dirt the other afternoon - a whole hillside!

Maybe it was the build up from all those weeks of seeking or the thrill of finding something green and edible growing after this endless, snowy winter, but finding them was a moment of pure excitement and elation.

I fell in love right away, before I'd even dug the first plant out of the ground or had a chance to taste one.

They're such beautiful plants. I think they look just like a cross between a Lily of the Valley and an onion. Strong but slender with green leaves and a beautiful purple stem and "seam" that runs partway up the leaves.

Perhaps, like me, you're not terribly familiar with this lovely native plant. Allow me to introduce you. Their Latin name is allium tricoccum but they're more commonly known as ramps, spring onions, ramsons, wild leeks, wild garlic, and, en Français, ail sauvage and ail des bois. 

Ramps are perennials and grow in groups with their scallion-like bulbs firmly rooted beneath the soil. They favor sandy, moist soils and are often found near streams though you might also find them carpeting the forest floor where beech, birch, poplar and/or sugar maple trees are found.

If you spot some plants that you think fit this bill, you can test your identification by tearing off a leaf and giving it a sniff -- it should smell strongly of onion/garlic.

If you are lucky enough to find some, please be respectful. Harvest only from large, healthy beds and take, at most, a fraction (some things I've read suggest 15% max) of the patch you've found. Due to the fact that the demand for these wild plants has been, shall we say, ramping up (sorry, I couldn't help myself) in recent years, there are concerns about overharvesting. If you want to know more, read this recent New York Times article on the topic. The good news is that these things are potent so you will not actually need to take very many plants.

You'll want to use a trowel or hoe in order to unearth them without damaging the bulb.

Keep the plants you've harvested cool and moist (you can just leave them in some dirt, if you like) while you pick.

Once you've finished your sustainable harvest, take them home and clean them up.

Peel off the papery skin, use cold water to wash off the dirt, and use a sharp knife to remove the roots, leaving the entire bulb intact. Dry them carefully with a towel to remove all the water, then bundle them together to help retain moisture and store in the refrigerator.

Just when you thought things could not possibly get any more fun, it's time to decide what to cook with them! There are a lot of good options. Although you can eat them raw, keep in mind that they are a bit intense -- if you don't like raw onions, scallions or garlic, you're not going to like raw ramps. But their strong, garlicky flavor is enhanced by cooking - it becomes mellower and sweeter.

Based on my research and on my own experiments, I'm happy to report that ramps are excellent grilled, sautéed, roasted, pickled and in pesto. If you're not feeling super adventurous, one basic rule of thumb is that you can use ramps for anything you would normally use onions or garlic.

I will be posting a recipe for the delicious wild ramp and parsley pesto we made the other night just as soon as I can and I also have plans to make a wild ramp and lemon risotto and will keep you posted on that.

In the meantime, I will leave you with the delicious-looking ramp recipes below. Also, if you don't live in an area where ramps grow wild and you have not seen them in a store near you, you can order them from Earthly Delights.

You might like:

• Wild Ramp & Lemon Risotto
• Wild Ramp & Parsley Pesto
• Grilled Wild Ramps
• Pickled Wild Ramps

Some Other Wild Ramp Recipes:

• Spaghetti With Sautéed Ramps & Bread Crumbs from The Amateur Gourmet
• Wild Leek Pesto From Hunter Angler Gardener Cook
• Linguine With Ramp Pesto & Seared Salmon from Bon Appetit
• And a few more options from Simple Recipes

Signs of Life - A Sampler of Early Spring's Delights

Spring is finally arriving in our winter-ravaged area. Light green is beginning to creep into and over the landscape, maple trees are covered in fuzzy red buds, daffodils are nodding their sunny heads and forsythia bushes are bravely beginning to bloom along the roadsides. Halleluljah!!! 

I've been seized with a powerful desire to document each thrilling new discovery. Happily, I also found my 50mm lens which allows me to take better close ups of all the miracles taking place outside. Below is a little sampling of early spring delights.

Daffodils shyly nodding their sweet, sunny heads in our yard.

This forsythia is soooo close to bursting open - maybe tomorrow.

Periwinkle (vinca) has begun to bloom at the edge of our yard.

Our lilac bush is budding but still holding out for slightly warmer weather to really go for it.

A friend gave us this Gerber Daisy when we moved in last summer. After months of looking rather sad around the edges, it burst into gorgeous, flame-colored bloom about a week ago.

And it's equally beautiful from above and below.

The seeds we planted (with Will's "help") two weekends ago have sprouted up very quickly in their little black plastic tray with clear cover - a simple but ideal greenhouse for newborn plants.

The cucumber seedlings are by far the most precocious and seem bent on a mad dash to outgrow their little home. We're thinking about putting them in the ground and crossing our fingers that there will not be a frost before we reach the magical "frost-free date" for this area in early May.

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones With Orange Zest

I had not realized how addicted I was to Acme Bread Company's baked goods until we left Berkeley last June. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

My addiction began not long after Will was born. We began walking around our neighborhood more or less constantly as a way to cope with our rather fussy little guy. We got in the habit of bjorning or strolling him over to Monterey Market - a pleasant, 10-minute walk from our house -  where we'd load up on cheap, locally-grown organic veggies and fruits and fill a bag with Acme's delicious, freshly-baked, organic pastries.

My favorite was the pain au chocolat, followed closely by the cinnamon morning buns.  One of these sugary little gems graced my plate almost every morning - a delicious bright spot in the dark haze of baby-induced sleep deprivation.

Until we moved back to the east coast. It's not that they don't have pastries here. They do. But they're a lot more expensive, a bit farther away, and, I'm sorry to say, not as tasty. So I did what any serious addict would do. I began baking my own breakfast goodies. Hence all the scone and quick bread recipes I've posted this year.

Of all the scones I bake, these are my favorite. Not only are they the quickest and easiest, they also contain chocolate. It's a win-win. 

Cream scones are so simple -- no egg, no butter -- heavy cream provides all the fat and moisture you need.

It only takes a few minutes to get a batch of these in the oven and by the time you're finished cleaning up, the scones are ready!

Sometimes I add the orange zest for a little extra flavor and sometimes I leave it out for a more classic approach -- they're delicious either way.

This recipe is from the good old Joy of Cooking.

Chocolate Chip Cream Scones

Makes 8 large or 12 small scones

Ingredients

* 2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/3 cup sugar

* 1 Tbsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp salt

* 1 1/4 cups heavy cream (use organic)

* 1/2 cup chocolate chips

* 1 tsp grated orange zest (optional - if you add this, use an organic orange)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Position a rack in the center of the oven. Have ready a large ungreased baking sheet.

2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips (you can substitute currants if you prefer them to chocolate), then add the heavy cream and orange zest.

3. Mix with a wooden spoon or fork until the dry ingredients are moistened. Gather the dough into a ball and knead it gently against the sides and bottom of the bowl 5 to 10 times, turning and pressing any loose pieces into the dough each time until they adhere and the bowl is fairly clean.

4. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and pat the dough into an 8-inch round about 3/4 inch thick. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges and place at least 1/2 inch apart on the baking sheet. Brush the tops with 2 to 3 teaspoons cream or milk. If you're feeling really decadent, sprinkle the tops with a little cinnamon and sugar.

5. Bake until the tops are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack or serve warm.

You might also like:

• Classic Currant Scones
• Homemade Granola
• Maple Pecan Scones
• Pear Bread With Lemon & Pecans
• Pumpkin Bread - Two Ways
• Sweet Irish Soda Bread With Caraway Seeds & Raisins