Showing posts with label ramps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ramps. Show all posts

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Rampin Up

Photo of Spring dish one year ago taken by Josh Brusin of Chicago Foodies
Ooo how I love spring!  In this photo I have ramps in two different preparations.  One is pickled ramp bulb the other is chilled ramp top soup.
For the pickled ramps:
Clean about 1 cup ramp bulbs, cut tops and reserve.
1 cup water
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup sugar
3 finger pinch of salt
1 t coriander seeds
1 t black peppercorns
Bring water, vinegars, sugar and salt to a bowl.  In an airtight container place ramps along with coriander and peppercorns, pour hot liquid over, allow to cool to room temp, cover and store in refrigerator.  Ramps will hold for two to three weeks if not a touch more.
For the soup:
3 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced
350 g heavy cream
100 g water
50 g butter
1 1/2 t salt
about 6 oz ramp tops cleaned and blanched
Cook potatoes in cream, water, butter and salt until tender.  Transfer to blender and blend with ramp tops.  Add more warm water to thin if necessary.  Adjust salt seasoning if needed.  Cool quickly by transferring warm soup into bowl within a larger bowl filled with ice.  Transfer to airtight container and chill.
Now the tricky part is getting that ramp soup in those bud vases.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Spring Menu!

Spring menu in the works.  I've got so many ideas for this Spring I see the menu to be changing fairly often losing a dish here or there only to be replaced by something else fun and of course it will be subject to change depending on my foraging excursions.  I should have lots of wonderful items like ramps, nettles, fiddleheads, morels, chickweed, mulberries, elderberry flowers... 

Gazpacho
cucumber, hibiscus

Sunflower
goat's milk, lavender honey, home grown

Pierogi
white truffle, potato, marscarpone

Snow Crab Ball
hanging

Shrimp and Avocado 
mango noodles, other garnishes

Cannoli 
Scrambled egg, asparagus, prosciutto di Parma, yeast

Shrimp Noodles
scampi

1 Pill Makes You Larger 1 Pill Makes You Small
maitake, pecan, cocoa, chamomile

Hand-Cut Pasta
English peas, chicken liver, black truffle

Sweetbreads and Brains
pumpernickel, apples, nasturtium 

Oatmeal Dashi
hato mugi

Ice Cream Cone
bacon, Koval Whisky, black pepper

Bison Tenderloin
blood, marshmallow, berries

Gobstopper
strawberry and rhubarb pie

Mirepoix
Carrot, celery, onion, white chocolate