Ramps and more ramps

[jcam222]

I recently came across a friends posts on Facebook referencing his cooking with ramps. I had heard of them before but never used them. He has moved out of state but turned me on to his hot spot. There are ramps as far as you can see!!

I picked about 2 nice plastics grocery bags full, enough to stuff a backpack. Felt good to get out in the woods a bit and wander. I had to try a bit raw of course. Stronger than green onion , milder than garlic and sweeter than both. You can use the entire plant. The leaves were good in salad and in the other uses below. Here are some of them ready to be used.

I chopped up some greens for my wife's salads and then after a bit of research decided ramp butter would be one cool thing to make to extend the time I have to use the ramp flavor. Pretty simple stuff

• 1 lbs. softened butter
• about 20 large ramps
• zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

First up blanch the ramps for about 30 seconds in boiling water then shock them in an ice bath. Drain and spread them out to dry a bit. I pressed them out on paper towel to speed things up. Process the ramps, zest and lemon juice in a food processor or high speed blender. I used my Vitamix. Add the softened butter and work it until you have a nice consistent blend of the ramps throughout the butter. I scooped it out then into a tupperware container and refrigerated overnight. Here they are cut into smaller pieces I will let soften some then make nice rolls in wax paper to freeze for future use.

The oil seemed like another great idea to extend the life of the ramps. 6 oz. of the ramp greens only. 1 1/2 cups of any mild oil ( I used avocado) into the Vitamix with the chopped up greens and high speed until its a nice smooth oil. I just made this. it will sit overnight and then be strained through cheesecloth. The instructions said to let it naturally drain and not to force it for best results. I will keep some of this in the refrigerator as I thin its good for up to a month and will try freezing the rest in ice cube trays then vacuum packing them individually.

I am now a ramp lover for sure! The butter and oil will be used in plenty of upcoming cooks. I froze a nice size bag of the bulbs and stems left over from the leaves used in the oil for later use too. I may go grab one more backpack full of these to make more butter and oil before they are gone. I imagine they will only be out another week or so.

 

[Omnivore]

Lucky!!! That is such a great foraging find. I want a knob of that butter on a grilled ribeye!

 

[TNJAKE]

Very cool bud. I love them also

 

[jcam222]

Very cool bud. I love them also

I could have literally picked a truckload lol! No luck with morels though. One of these days I’ll find a good spot. Buddies found 264 in two days, several as big as a 20oz water bottle.

 

[pc farmer]

Wow. Don't think we have them here

 

[Brokenhandle]

Never heard of ramps before, or if I've seen them didn't know what they were. But if I ever do now I'll be selfish! Sounds good

Ryan

 

[xray]

Nice score Jeff. Sounds like a good time to get into the woods.

I always wanted to look for morels, but I’d love to follow someone more knowledgeable about them. I remember going with my dad looking for papinky mushrooms and chestnuts when I was younger.

 

[SmokinVOLfan]

Awesome Jeff! That butter looks so good. Didn't know much about ramps before reading this so I learned something today for sure! Thanks for sharing.

 

[tx smoker]

Damn Jeff...all of that looks REALLY good. I'm kinda at a loss though. The only ramps I'm familiar with are the ones I drive the vehicles up onto for oil changes. Never heard of them and don't know that I've ever seen them in a store anywhere. They sound amazing though. Great ways to get creative with them.

Ramped up,
Robert