Ramps Two Ways
Posted by in FoodI’d never had ramps, but I’d certainly heard of them. When I ran across them in the grocery store, I grabbed some. I love green onions (scallions) so I was excited to try this relative that is only available in the spring.
I had a nice bunch, so I made two different dinners with them. For the first, I started with tortillas, to which I added feta cheese (I wanted to use goat cheese but had none), shrimp, the sliced ramps, mushrooms, some leftover broccoli, and a little cheddar cheese. I cooked them at 400 until the shrimp were cooked through. When I took them out, I added some sliced avocado and squeezed lemon over them. This was very good, but would have been better with goat cheese. I did not taste the ramps very much – all the tastes blended together.
For dinner #2 I decided I wanted to really be able to taste the ramps. I took a pork tenderloin, cut it into 2 inch wide pieces and marinated them in olive oil, thyme, Worchestershire, salt, pepper and some pineapple mango juice. Then I sent Mr. MarthaAndMe out to the grill with instructions to grill the meat and to also grill the ramps (which had been rubbed with olive oil). The photo at the right is the one I took when dinner was brought in – before I realized the ramps were not cooked at all. He put them on the top rack right at the end and they got warm, but didn’t cook. Back out to the grill he went and cooked them some more on the lower shelf and this time they cooked. I really liked them. The flavor is more refined than that of green onions. I wouldn’t say it is more delicate, because it does have a little kick, but it just different. I really enjoyed them.
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Wow.. I’ve never heard of these but they sure sound good. I like how you cooked them with the pork loin and that photo 🙂
Another great review on new-to-you veggies!
I got the inspiration from this from the Frugal Gourmet (don’t know if anyone remembers him – he was a chef on PBS about 20 yrs ago). I remember he once cooked some scallions in a pan with a little oil until they got crunchy. I made that and it was really good and the ramps made me think of it.
I keep hearing about ramps, but I’ve never eaten them. Must solve this problem, pronto!
Looks great. I’ve only been up for an hour and have learned about something new already! I had never heard of these either.