Rites of Spring…Ramps and Fiddleheads

Posted on May 8th, 2008 in Chinese Cuisine, Cooking Tips, Personal Chef, Tupperware by Chef Jill
On our way home from our cook date Tuesday afternoon, we decided to check out the Rhinebeck Health Food store.  We were very pleasantly surprised to find ramps and fiddlehead ferns.  After checking out the rest of the store, we decided to purchase some of each. 
Tonight was our first try at both this year.   We cooked fiddleheads a few years ago but we’ve never had ramps.  I did a quick internet search for recipes and got a few ideas.  Fiddleheads can be used in many recipes that call for broccoli and asparagus and they lend themselves nicely to oriental dishes, so since we were making cedar plank salmon with a wasabi soy glaze and healthy fried rice for dinner, the fiddleheads made a really nice vegetable side dish.  I blanched them for a few minutes until the were nice and tender then tossed them in a hot skillet with olive oil.  I added 3 sliced ramps to the pan, sprinkled a pinch of salt and that was it! 
We bought enough ramps to last us a few weeks, but only enough fiddleheads for dinner tonight, so I guess we have to go back for more while they’re available. 
Just a note…neither have a very long shelf life, but I’m storing the ramps in my new Tupperware FridgeSmart container.  I’ve had mushrooms last for literally weeks and lettuce keeps until we actually finish it, so the ramps should be good until we finish them too.  No more wasted produce for us!