Singing Sorrel's Praises

In the spinach family, sorrel has a tangy bite and pokes its head up early to greet the spring. Tender leaves are great in salads or added fresh to yogurt to make a sauce.  When they are cooked down, they turn a less lovely shade of green, but their tart taste stays true.

I've planted it in the garden and am happy to see it in spring (hint: I plant this perennial in the ground in a pot to keep it's spreading ways under control). We love to add it to our first greens - watercress and spinach - when we make our spring salads.  It is delicate and doesn't keep well so with my own plant,  I just pick what I need when I need it.

We recently came across a beautiful soup recipe from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy. She breaks out vegetables into their larger families (mint, carrot, knotweed, thistle, cucurbit, lily, sunflower, morning glory, legume, grass, goosefoot, nightshade and cabbage) and then talks about how to use foods within the same family. Like all her cookbooks, it is a rich and wonderful source of information and savory recipes that is a delight to read for research and for finding good foods to make.

 Ramped Up Spinach Soup with Lovage and Sorrel
(translated into Marge-ese)

2 c. chopped ramps (about 3 oz)
big handful of sorrel leaves (about 2 oz)
8 ounces of spinach leaves, w/o stems
2 T butter or delicate olive oil
3 c. ramp broth, water or light chicken stock
2 lovage leaves (we didn't have that and skipped this)
freshly ground black pepper
heavy cream or thick yogurt (optional)
toasted bread crums

Melt the butter over medium heat. Add the ramps and cook for 2 minutes. Add sorrel, spinach and 1 t. salt. Coat the veggies with the butter. Then add the broth, bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. At this point, if you have it, add the lovage.  Cool slightly and puree in blender. Gently re-heat and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve with a smidgen of cream or yogurt swirled in. Add a few pinces of breadcrumbs if you want.

Simple and delicious as a spring rain!

Ramping Up for Ramps

And the spring food continues!  We are late this year for ramps - the wild leeks that grow in swaths in just the right spot. They usually spring up in late April and then literally fade away soon after. While we do some foraging, all our tramping this spring never revealed a good spot for these oniony short-lived treats. We don't worry about it though. Our friends at Harmony Valley Farms sustainably harvest these alliums and sell them at farmer's markets and the Viroqua Food Coop.

We always try to get our hands on 5-10 bunches during the season and cook with abandon. Stir-fries, added to scrambled eggs, sauteed and added to soups and stews, made into a pesto, on pizza. Theses are all wonderful ways to use these roots.

We were first introduced to ramps through our CSA on the eastern side of the state. Our May shares often contained ramps that our farmer Steve brought over from this area. We fell instantly in love with them. We were the CSA pick-up point for our area and I always hoped that members would take one look at these and put them in the "Anybody can take these" box for unwanted veggies. I would even leave an oh-so-casual note, "If you don't want your ramps, we would be happy to have them". One friend, a cook of some reputation though unfamiliar with ramps, took that as a ringing endorsement for these treats...and I didn't get his share!

Locally a Ramp Festival has started (invitation only..and no, we aren't on the list) in a forest that boasts fields of ramps. Last night Lloyd and I met some friends at the Rooted Spoon Culinary for a spring ramps dinner featuring ramps dug Thursday from those fields. The menu was delightful and included:

• Chicken and ramp terrine
• Ramp pesto and goat cheese crostini
• Pickled ramps (to die for)
• Pea shoot salad with ramp dressing
• Trout stuffed with ramps
• Couscous with wild mushrooms, carmelized ramps and watercress
• Maple creme brulee

We wondered if we would be overwhelmed but our chefs knew how to weave the strong flavors throughout the meals in a way that had us savoring the offerings.

The fleeting season of ramps is almost over but we feel like we honored it well. And there are still two more bunches in the fridge to play with!

And So It Begins...

Today, I went to the garden and dug my first garlic of the season.  I love nothing better than pulling these first delicate slips. It means spring really is here and the growing season is upon us.

Last fall, I buried many individual cloves and covered them heavily with straw. Since then, these  little beauties have been sleeping away the winter.  The first hint of light and warmth brings their shoots up above the ground.

When I dig them, the clove is wet and withered. I peel off that layer, and inside there is a thin shoot, looking much like scallion.

This first garlic is sweet and mild enough to put raw in salads.  Tonight, we're making Miniera, a Brazilian dish that marries thinly sliced collard greens with bacon (yes, greens and bacon - a match made in heaven). A few slices of this sprightly spring garlic serves as a perfect mild flavor maid of honor.

Collard Greens Miniera

1/2 # collard greens, halved lengthwise and stems and center ribs discarded
2 slices of bacon, finely chopped

Stack the collard leaf halves and roill cross-wise into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise into very thin slices (1/8"). Cook bacon til crisp. Add collards, tossing to coat and cook until just bright green (about 1 minute. Season with salt and serve.

Gourmet Magazine January 2001