Quick Pickled Ramps

In April we went foraging for wild ramps.  We came home with a good selection and used them to make pasta and also ate them on toast.  We had enough left over that we could use some in a simple pickling recipe and then put them aside.  Now, even in the summertime, we are enjoying the lovely ramps of spring- most recently on top of a veal slider…and yes, I’m not sure how I feel about it either.  Well actually I am sure- I am still not quite able to think about eating veal.  I’ve said this before on this blog, but yet when it is in front of me I do eat it (and then immediately feel guilty).  Maybe I am just a selective meat eater.  It is the baby aspect that gets me.  But then again when I really think about it I know part of me thinks vegetarianism might be the right move for me.  Oh but this blog post is not about that…back to our gorgeous ramps…and they were gorgeous.

We made two really simple quick pickling recipes.  One was rather straight forward and the other curried.  Both were equally delicious and remarkably mild.

Ingredients:

1 cup of cider vinegar

1 cup water

1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt

1 cup sugar

peppercorns

bay Leaf

coriander seeds

Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan, heat it up until all the sugar and salt have dissolved.  Once it has come to a boil, add the ramps for about 30 seconds and then remove the ramps placing them into your sterilized jars and then cover with the liquid before sealing.  For the curry variation add 1 1/2 tablespoons of good quality curry powder.  We wanted the flavor to really absorb into the ramps so we left them in the jars (refrigerated) until recently.  Because this is a quick pickle you can eat them as soon as they are cooled.

The non curried ramps added a sweet and tangy flavor to this veal burger making it (with help from the herbs inside of the meat) fresh and remarkably light.  While we are quite sure it would have also worked with the curried ramps, we love how well those go with a good cheddar and toast or in a rice dish.  Next year we are hoping to make bigger batches so we have them to enjoy a little bit longer.