Ramp Butter
Spring is here, but it won’t be for long. Hurry! Rush to the farmer’s market! Buy those ramps. Blanch them briefly. Throw them in your food processor, along with plenty of butter. Line your ice cube trays with plastic wrap or tinfoil, leaving plenty hanging over the edge to grab later, then fill them with ramp butter and freeze. Once they’re frozen, pop out the cubes of ramp butter, wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, and throw them into a ziplock bag and back into the freezer.
Having ramp butter in your freezer is a wonderful thing. Ramps are only in season for a few short weeks, but you can freeze the butter for at least a few months. I’ll still be cooking with ramp butter once fall comes, and probably even into early winter. Last night, we used it to saute blanched fiddleheads and some beeves (plural of ‘beef’, at least in this household). I’d generally use it as more of a finishing butter, and for making sauces.
This barely even constitutes a recipe, but I wanted to plant the thought in your minds before it is too late.
Wonderful!
I’d never heard of ramps before today, I wonder if I could grow them here, must do some more research!
Yum.
If only the farmers’ market were open this early…
Danielle, what an odd coincidence. I just posted about ramps today too. I’d never tried them before last week, but they are fantastic.
Thanks for providing another idea for preparing them.
bron – I posted about them once before, actually. They’re fabulous just stuffed into whole fish – http://habeasbrulee.com/2006/04/23/striped-bass-with-ramps-and-a-thieving-katya/.
shreyas – Go first thing in the morning. ^^
Rob – So did Ivonne! How funny.
Ahhh so you did Danielle, and I even read that post!
Forgive me and my numbskull!
Tis the season. Like Ivonne until she did her nimble for a Cream Puff trick,
I’ve read about ramps but never seen nor gotten my hans on any. Never considered
trying to grow them. The butter would seem to be a wonderful way to prolong the beauty.
Maybe one day. I like your blog.
Wow!
I wish I’d seen this before I’d made my ramp pasta. It looks and sounds delicious. Hmmm … I wonder if I can still find some ramps …
bron – Ah, don’t worry about it.
Tanna – Thanks! I hope you do come across them someday, they are lovely. If you’re ever in NYC, stop by nd we can use the ramp butter together.
Ivonne – Oh, no, but your ramp pasta looked delicious. Why prolong ramps when you can have them right then and there, wonderfully? I make ramp butter only because I can buy an overabundance of ramps right now, cheaply and easily.
Danielle, terrific! If only I could find ramps here!
This probably is wonderful tossed with pasta or melted on a steak…
What a very good idea — I’ve seen the ramps at the markets but been a little intimidated. Thanks for the suggestion!
what a great way to keep ramps for longer!
I love that idea.
[...] your fava beans in ramp butter, with some freshly ground black pepper, salt, and truffle salt to taste. When they are soft and [...]
melt it on skirt steak the best!