Ramp-Prosciutto Rolls with Blue Suede Moo Cheese (Keswick Creamery)

I was just talking on twitter with Michelle and/or Ona of Eatniks.com. They were wondering what to do with some ramps they had just bought. I mentioned a few ideas then realized that I might as well expand those into a more than 140 character post.

We hit our secret ramp patch today and came home with a backpack stuffed with one of the easiest-to-forage wild foods out there.

You don’t have to go out and dig up your own though; they are popping up right now in farmer’s markets.

The easiest way to use them: clean them and trim any rootlets from the end. Cut off the leaves and set aside. Sauté the bulbs in butter or olive oil for 5-10 minutes. Tear the leaves into bite size pieces and add to the  pan with a splash of water. Cover, reduce heat, and cook until the greens have wilted (~5 min.).

(Add morel mushrooms and/or fiddlehead ferns if you can find them)

The classic way to do this is to cook them in bacon fat, but you can always cook the bacon and add it later.

Our must-make ramp meal is Grilled Trout stuffed with ramp bulbs and fresh ricotta from Keswick Creamery or Blue Ridge Dairy.  If you REALLY want to ratchet –up the fresh/local/seasonal angle of the meal, you can use yellow perch that you caught yourself instead.

I have also used the leaves like wrappers to make prosciutto – blue cheese rolls (Blue Suede Moo from Keswick is a good one for this).

Last year I used them on pizza with a few dried figs and an egg. In fact eggs and ramps are fine companions, especially in omelets.

Here is a photo set of our ramp adventures of the past.

Beetza is the flavor sensation that is rockin' the nation

Too hot to use the oven, so I fired up the grill. Whole wheat crust made form Raphine Mill flour, beets from Bloomingdale farmers market, Goat cheese from Cherry Glen Farm, fennel from Bull Run Mountain farm. Wood from my shop and the neighbor’s oak tree

Aug 23 Market Buys

One of the comments we hear a lot is  … so, the gooseberries are great and all, but I can’t make real meals just by shopping at the farmers markets.   And, even if I could, it would cost a fortune!

Well, we’re here to dispel those myths and show you how it can be done.  This week, my CSA brought me corn, summer squash, tomatoes, lettuce, and peaches.  At the market (see above), I bought peaches, pluots, eggplant, sweet potatoes, bell peppers, pimientos (the little red peppers), basil, chives, dandelion greens, sweet potato ravioli, garlic lingini, bread, mozarella cheese, and blackberry ice cream (Dolcezza is totally worth the $6 splurge!).  Here’s my plan for the week:

Monday: Summer squash and corn soup with chives and pimientos (good for a couple of lunches, too) and bread

Tuesday: Sweet potato ravioli (purchased from Smith Meadows Farms) with bell pepper and tomato sauce and feta (purchased last week at the 14th St Market)

Wednesday: Tomato/Basil/Mozarella sandwiches on toasted bread with green salad w/ peaches

Thursday: Linguini w/ feta, summer squash, and herbs (good for a couple lunches, too)

Friday: Scrambled eggs w/ dandelion greens and sweet potato hash

Saturday: Corn on the cob, panzanella (tomato, mozarella, and bread) salad, and blackberry ice cream

So, for $80 ($20 CSA, $60 market), I will make 6 dinners and ~4 lunches for myself and my husband.   That works out to $4/meal/person for local, mostly organic, super-healthy meals.  And, for snacks, I have plenty of fruit, and will make baba ganoush from the eggplant.

As you can see, I am a vegetarian most of the time.  I’ll buy fish 2-3 times per month, and cook with meat (small pieces in a larger veggie meal) maybe once a month.   If you’re more of a carnivore, there are many meat sellers at the markets.  You could add ground meat to the pasta dishes, or add some sausage links to the eggs and hash dinner, raising the price to $5-6/meal.

The basil is peaking

We’re finally up to All You Can Eat basil at our stop. Many shareholders start making and freezing pesto as soon as or even before we reach this point. We have had up to six quarts of it in our freezer for the Winter. It is an easy enough sauce to make; we use it as is with pasta or with some tomato sauce (or on a pizza instead of tomato sauce).  I usually make it with walnuts instead of the traditional pine nuts and often omit the Parmesan cheese which many recipes call for. It is an easy thing to play around with, particularly if you have access to vast amounts of the primary ingredient.

What did you get from your CSA this week?

Three Great Tastes, by Art D.

At this point in the Summer one of our most common CSA meals is what you see here. I’ll get home, chop a few potatoes into eight or so pieces, peel a head of garlic, then add rosemary. Toss it all with some olive oil, salt and pepper, then throw it on a baking sheet  covered with parchment. Roasted at 400 for 30 minutes. Quick, easy , and filling.