Soup for Summer: Part 2 - Asparagus

Come summer, a recipe has to be pretty intriguing for me to get the energy to turn on the stove (otherwise it's cold salads and microwaved meals). But the asparagus soup recipe from Eating Well looked good enough to risk sweltering in an already overheated kitchen. After all, asparagus season was ending, and it was my last chance to use up the half bunch in the crisper. So on a recent "cool" evening (with temperatures finally dipping into the 60s and 70s), I fired up the gas burner and made soup. In the summer.

With a little tweaking (leeks for onions, garlic scapes for garlic clove), the end result was more like a vichyssoise -- perfect for enjoying hot or cold. Or, in other words, a perfect soup for summer (as long as you can bear standing over the stove)!

Asparagus Spinach Vichyssoise

Ingredients

1 T. Light whipped butter

2 T. Olive oil

2 Leeks, cleaned and chopped

1 Clove of garlic, mashed

1/2 t. Salt

1/2 t. Curry powder

1/2 t. Ginger root, grated

1 Lemon, zested and juiced

2 C. Red potatoes, diced

3 C. Chicken broth

1 C. Lite Coconut milk

2 C. Asparagus, chopped

2 C. Baby spinach Black pepper

Method

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat; add leeks and cook until soft.

Add garlic, salt, curry powder, ginger root and lemon zest; cook for three minutes.

Add potatoes, broth and coconut milk; simmer for 10 minutes.

Add asparagus; summer for 5 minutes more.

Remove pot from heat; add baby spinach and then puree mixture using immersion blender.

Season with additional salt, freshly ground black pepper and lemon juice to taste.

Serve hot or cooled.

Crisper Clean Out: Asparagus and Ramps

About two weeks ago, I hit the Union Square green market. You could tell people had spring fever, because every other person was walking around with a bunch of just-purchased lilacs (with a going rate of $7-8 a bunch, you could make a killing as a lilac farmer down here). But those in the know were walking around bunches of other springtime favorites -- asparagus and ramps. So for $10 bucks, just a little more than a bunch of flowers, I grabbed some of both. And they sat in the fridge for a week and a half. I had intended all along to try pickling the ramps. I made a special trip to Penzey's for their pickling spice mix. I got myself a nifty container. But for one reason or another, I did not get around to it until last night. Since you only pickle the white parts of the ramps, I had whole mess of the green leaves leftover. I decided to use some of them in a pasta dish based on a recipe I found online (which, ironically, was originally was inspired by a recipe from Talula’s Table). I crisped a bit of pre-chopped pancetta, and then added a few sliced Baby Bellas and sliced ramp leaves. In lieu of eggs or cream, I (attempted) to melt a wedge of Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese into the pan, before adding the asparagus, which I sliced thinly and blanched, and a bit of cooked lemon pepper pappardelle. Since the cheese did not really melt, I added a healthy amount of grated cheese at the end and called it dinner (by then, it was 9 p.m., my kitchen smelled like ramps and vinegar, and Lost was starting). Still, I was happy to clear two more items out of the crisper.

Pickled Ramps

Inspired by a recipe from Serious Eats

Unless you have a incredibly well-stocked spice pantry, consider buying a pickling spice blend, which will save you some money and time.

Ingredients 1 C. White wine vinegar

1 C. Sugar

1 C. Bottled water

2-3 T. Pickling spice mix (a combination of mustard, coriander, and fennel seeds, plus peppercorns and bay leaves)

2 Lb. Ramps (wild leeks)

1 T. Salt

Method

Set a pot of salted water to boil.

Prep the ramps by cutting off most of the leaves and the hairy root ends; clean well by submersing in a bowl of water and letting the grit settle to the bottom (as you would clean regular leeks). Once the water is boiling, blanch ramps for about 30 seconds, then immediately shock them by adding to a bowl of ice water; drain well and insert into a glass jar; sprinkle with salt.

Add the vinegar, sugar and bottled water to the pot; bring up to a boil.

Add the spices to the pot and leave on heat for one minute.

Pour brine mixture over ramps; let cool to room temperature and then seal glass jar and refrigerate.

More Ideas for Using Ramps

Fun video on The Feedbag this week. Chef Marco Canora - where were you last week when I was ramped out? Now I have a bunch of new ideas for using ramps (and asparagus). In fact, grilled tenderloin wrapped in ramp leaves sounds really good right now. Now all I need to do is pick up a couple of bunches of ramps -- and get a grill. Or maybe just dine at Insieme (which, ironically, is steps away from my office).

The Feedbag goes to the Greenmarket with Marco Canora from The-Feedbag on Vimeo.

I was glad to see that they visited two of my favorite Union Square stands -- Cherry Lane and Mountain Sweet Berry (which should look familiar). I was also glad to see that they touched on the issue of price. Farmers market produce is not always cheaper, but you are paying for quality.

Seasonal Spotlight: Ramps and Asparaus Scramble

Getting up and out to the farmers market around 8:00 a.m. has its perks: namely fewer shoppers and the first pick of produce. But last Saturday, the greenmarket was teeming with good stuff, including piles upon piles of ramps. Taking my cue from the area chef making a produce run, I chose the $2.50-a-bunch stand. As I was picking over the pile, two different women stopped me asking what they were. "Oh, ramps? They're like wild leeks. You can saute them, you can grill them," I said authoritatively. Bet neither guessed I had never cooked them before! I also picked up some green and purple asparagus. This time, it was the guy at the stand (I'm guessing NOT the farmer), who asked me if the purple tasted any different from the green. I admitted I had no idea but that the purple sure looked pretty. However, after doing a little research at home, I learned that purple are supposed to be more tender and sweeter. My final haul consisted of two bunches of ramps ($5), a bag of red onions ($1.50), a seedless cucumber ($2), some fingerling potatoes ($.85), and 3/4 lb. of mixed green and purple asparagus ($3).

Back home, I Googled "Bitten + ramp + egg" trying to find The New York Times Bitten food blog

posts about ramps last week. However, I stumbled across a recipe for scrambled eggs with morels, asparagus and ramps at The Bitten Word. The recipe originally from Bon Appetit, was really simple. With some slight tweaking based on the contents of my fridge, I was enjoying breakfast in less than 10 minutes. Now to decide what to do with the rest of my haul...

Spring Scramble Inspired by The Bitten Word and Bon Appetit I steamed the asparagus to speed up the cooking time and learned the hard way that the purple stalks discolor easily (which is why most recommend using them raw in salads). Ingredients 3 Ramps, bulbs and greens 2 Asparagus stalks, cut into 1 inch pieces 5 Button mushrooms, sliced 2 Egg whites 1 T. Grated Parmesan Butter Salt Pepper Method In a small skillet over medium-low heat, melt a blob of butter and start the mushrooms; do not season until they start to brown. In the meantime, steam asparagus on the stove top or in the microwave. Wash ramps very well (as you would leeks); chop and separate whites and greens. Once the mushrooms have some color, add ramp whites and sauté until softened. Add steamed asparagus and greens to skillet, season with salt and pepper; sauté until greens are wilted. Add egg whites and cook until just set. Season with extra pepper; finish with a grating of Parmesan.