Into the Woods We Go

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…and not for Northern White Cedar this time

You all know how Mother Nature has blessed us here in northern Michigan with Northern White Cedar, the gold standard for our log homes, timber homes and Cedar homes, as well as, of course, sprinkled us with her elusive culinary pixy dust, the morel mushroom. But there is another edible she has hidden in these woods of ours – Ramps!

Ramp season is short, and hence, quantities are limited. Like truffles and wild mushrooms, ramps are typically foraged, giving them an air of adventure. They’re also one of the first vegetables to emerge from the defrosting soil after a long winter. Ramps are a type of wild allium that are related to spring onions and leeks and boast a pungent garlicky onion flavor. “You can smell them before you can see them,” is an often-used descriptor. Like ginger and turmeric, ramps are rhizomes, which means they multiply and stem from a horizontal rootstalk.*

Grilled Ramps with Romesco

1 Large bunch Ramps

Place ramps on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss until well coated. You can tie them in bundles with butcher’s twine to make them easier to handle and prevent them from falling through grill grates
Light charcoal. When all the charcoal is lit and covered with gray ash, arrange the coals on one side of the charcoal grate. Set cooking grate in place, cover grill and allow to preheat for 5 minutes. Alternatively, set half the burners on a gas grill to the highest heat setting, cover, and preheat for 10 minutes. Clean and oil the grilling grate.
Place ramps on hot side of grill and cook, turning occasionally, until tender and charred, about 2 minutes (Since the greens take much less time to cook it’s important to cook the bulb portion first. You can leave the leafy portion off the side of the grill, as well).
Transfer to a serving platter, drizzle with more olive oil.

Romesco

1 jar roasted red peppers,
3 medium tomatoes or 4 Roma tomatoes (about ¾pound)
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
¾ cup toasted almonds (tip – Blue Diamond Chili ‘n Lime),
1 to 2 teaspoons pure ground chile powder or red pepper flakes, to taste (pepper flakes are hotter)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon sweet paprika or Spanish smoked paprika (pimenton)
Sea Salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoon sherry vinegar
¼ to ½ cup extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Preheat the broiler and cover a baking sheet with foil. Place the tomatoes on the baking sheet, and place under the broiler at the highest setting. Broil for two to four minutes, until charred on one side. Turnover and broil on the other side for two to four minutes until charred. Remove from the heat, transfer toa bowl and allow to cool. Peel and core.
Turn on a food processor fitted with the steel blade and drop in the garlic cloves. When the garlic is chopped and adheres to the sides of the bowl, stop the machine and scrape down the sides. Add toasted almonds and chile powder or flakes to the bowl and process to a paste.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the pepper, tomatoes, parsley, paprika, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, and with the machine running, add the vinegar and olive oil in a slow stream, beginning with the smaller amount of olive oil and thinning out as desired. Process until well amalgamated, then scrape into a bowl.
Adjust seasoning, adding salt or chile as desired. If possible, allow the sauce to stand for an hour at room temperature before using.

Bon appétit!

* Being a slow-growing, bulbous perennial, Ramps are at great risk of losing entire populations due to over harvest. Ramps are considered a threatened species in some areas due to this overharvesting, which disrupts their slow growth and reproduction cycle. Many regions have cultural limitations on when and how much to harvest, but due to lack of solid regulations and widespread demand, this plant is still at risk in many places.

Limit Harvest:

Never harvest more than 10% of any given ramp patch in a single season . A study by Janet H. Rock, Brian Beckage, and Louis J. Gross, published by Elsevier, recommends a 10% harvest once every 10 years would be a sustainable level.
Harvest only from healthy, dense patches. If a patch looks thin, move on to another area.
Vary the ramp patches you harvest from yearly.