If you spend a lot of time reading food writing, you know it is practically impossible this time of year to avoid writer after writer rhapsodizing on about the ethereal quality of ramps, the wild cousin of the leek. I don't disagree with these journalists at all. Ramps are absolutely wonderful. Ramp's six to eight week annual availability certainly lends mystique. But do we really need two dozen articles a week telling us about their unique status in the food chain? Why aren't there more useful articles on how to cook ramps? So, I've decided to give you a simple and easy to follow guide on how to prepare and grill your fresh ramps in under 5 minutes. For my money, grilling ramps is the ultimate bang for your buck when it comes to these pungent little weeds.
Step 1 - Clean and prepare your ramps. When you purchase your ramps, you may find they still have the hairy root ends (and maybe even some dirt) on them. Go ahead and wash the ramps and snip off the root ends with some kitchen shears. Lay the ramps out on a baking sheet and lightly toss them with some olive oil. Apply a light dose of kosher salt and some fresh ground black pepper. Now you are ready to grill.
Step 2 - Get your grill nice and hot. You will want to have a set of tongs ready to remove the ramps from the grill. Speed is of the essence when grilling ramps. It only takes a minute to cook a ramp from the time you apply it to the time you need to pull it off the grill, so be ready to move quickly. The ramps will wilt quickly once laid on the grill. This is what you want. If you will notice in the upper left hand corner of the picture, there is a ramp with grill marks. These grill marks are coming through the backside. The ramps have not been flipped or moved at this point. Begin to pull the ramps as soon as the are moderately wilted. They will continue to wilt once you pull them from the grill, so don't let them cook too long.
Step 3 - Eat. I plated up my grilled ramps with a jumbo lump crab cake with roasted red pepper buerre blanc sauce and roasted corn. There is no need to get this fancy, however. Ramps are delicious by themselves. They go wonderfully with potatoes. You can make a soup out of them. The possibilities are virtually endless. A word to the wise - if you have never had ramps, you will want to have some breath remediation available. You will stink after eating these bad boys. Alternately, you can just make sure your date eats them as well (M.U.B.B - Mutually Assured Bad Breath. ) Another valuable tip - do not attempt to get rid of the ramp root ends in your kitchen disposal unless it has plenty of horsepower. You will awake to one stinky sink otherwise. Final note - take out the trash the same night after cooking the ramps. You'll thank me later.
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