Time for the annual question: Are ramps in yet?
I was going to direct you to Lucy's Greenmarket Report, but she's gone as of 3/7/17! How am supposed to cyber-stalk the market now? Anyway, I'll be there Saturday and will report back. There were no ramps this past Monday.
Re. Lucy's Greenmarket Report--I know! I was so upset to discover that she would no longer be posting her report--I had come to rely on her *every day!* I wonder what happened--i hope she's okay. Meanwhile, are there any other people reporting on the Union Square Greenmarket stalls?
Not that I know of, but if I come across one, I'll post it. I wish my job were blogging about the Greenmarket. Hmm. I'm getting a Kickstarter idea.
Unfortunately, it seems Ms. Wollin died just a few days after dictating the brief farewell message that appeared at her Greenmarket Report website on March 7th: www.antiochcollege.edu/news/obituarie... (NB: Antioch's website kicked up an invalid site certificate warning for me, but as far as I could see, the site hasn't been hacked or anything so allowing a security exception for it shouldn't present any problems.)
I was there today (Wednesday), and I can confirm that there were no sign of ramps, yet.
i happened to have the first ramps of the season in london 4 weeks ago which i was very surprised to find. they came from italy. surprised they arent here already.
There were ramps at the W97th St market on Friday. We're usually behind USQ and I've seen photos of ramps at USQ on Instagram so I'm surprised to hear there have been no sightings.
My friend sent me a photo of gorgeous ramps at USquare last week. I will go tomorrow to buy some.
I bought a few bunches of ramps today. Now the question is how to store them properly so that they can last for a while
Three vendors at the tiny UN/Dag market had them today. To store, I clean them (strip away the any gunky outer parts and trim bulbs), and store in the produce drawer wrapped iin paper towels and placed inside a plastic bag. I don't know if that is the "best" way but they usually last up to a week. Some vendors (Lani's Farm, for one) sell ramps minus the bulbs which I think is so that they come up again next year. But I do like ones with the bulbs attached. Some farmers price per bunch and other per pound.
what do you use the ramps for? I use them in mashed potatoes, eggs and meat
Pickled Ramps
Grilled or seared with some olive oil til blistered whole, side of romesco sauce to dip to dribble on top.
sautéed in olive oil, sprinkle with salt and toss over ravioli. finish with parmesan and black pepper. ten minute meal that hits above its weight.
I'm making this tonight:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/foo...
Union Square Greenmarket is lousy with ramps today. Going rate is $5/bunch, and the vendor on the NE corner had what I thought were the largest and best-looking bunches.
Have you made this recipe before and loved it? I got two bunches today; usually make the Babbo spaghetti recipe but might try a pesto instead.
Today, I found 0 vendors with ramps. Hopefully, they'll be back on Wednesday
Burried Treasures sells ramps for $4 for a pretty large bunch at USQ Greenmarket. Other vendors sell them for $5 and one of them even sells it for $7 per bunch. Is there any reason to buy the more expensive ones? If they were organic, I might consider to buy them, but, alas, they're not organic, just more expensive.
Just take into account the size of the bunches and whether they have the bulbs attached. Mountain Sweet Berry Farm (west side of market) is consistently good with a tremendous reputation..Saturdays and Wednesdays, I think. The farmer a few stalls south of them had great, clean-looking bunches on Saturday..forgot the name. I think a ramp is a ramp, as long as its fresh.
None at all. Unless you get there late in the day and might lose out completely if you delay a purchase, it *always* pays to make a quick sweep of the whole place before settling on a particular vendor. Prices and QPR (for like kind and quality) are usually fairly close to each other from vendor to vendor, but there also almost always some oddball outliers (usually at the high end of the range.) In general, I guess some people have favorite vendors for given things, but personally, I actually prefer to spread my purchases around, all things being equal...
It appears to be that ramp season is over unless you don't mind buying just the ramp bulbs that I saw today without the leaf and stem. I hope I'm wrong
Have you tried the spring onions? With romesco, or harissa, or with poached egg, or both? Add parmesan, bread crumbs, etc etc. One of my favorite spring dinners.
I've been away from the US for a few weeks so looking forward to seeing what's around now..
FYI since ramps are wild there is a valid concern about how sustainable they are, to grow in a new location it takes five to seven years after planting seeds to harvest.
When bulbs are left in the ground they are able to regenerate leaves, but with bulbs for sale (and they most often are) this should be frowned upon by customers since it contributes to increased scarcity and higher price for this wild plant.
Anyone seen them this year? Or are they taken by professional cooks before they’re available to the public...?
Just saw this about which restaurants have ramps on the menu too- the roasted ones at la vara served like calcots with romesco sound the best to me!
http://www.grubstreet.com/2018/04/whe...
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