Date Night In – Grilled Ramp Hollandaise

I went out to forage for ramps again, then wondered what to do with then. As I was falling asleep the other night, I began to dream up recipes, and somehow stumbled upon the idea of using ramps to flavor a sauce to serve with dinner.

It is a serious problem for me, keeping me from falling asleep at night, when I start to think through which perishables we have in the house, which will go bad sooner and which later, and trying to plan accordingly.

In any event, this time I came up with a winner, and we had a decadent, luxurious Saturday evening dinner, a true date night in. We had four stray boiling potatoes, had just bought a bunch of asparagus, and we always have a variety of meat in the freezer, all of which I thought would be good with a hollandaise, so I came up with the idea to flavor the sauce with grilled ramps, and also use more grilled ramps for garnish.

If you can’t find ramps at your local market or farmers’ market, and you don’t have anywhere to forage for them, try ½ teaspoon of finely chopped shallots in place of the bulbs in the recipe below, and omit the greens. And, if possible, try to use farm-fresh eggs in preparations like hollandaise. I get mine from a woman I know who raises chickens, and the yolks are rich and vibrant, hence the color of my hollandaise, as well as my challah!

Grilled Ramp Hollandaise

• 5-10 grilled ramps (see grilling instructions below)

• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 1 Tablespoon water

• 2 egg yolks

• 4 ounces butter, softened, in chunks (I used salted cultured butter, but if you use regular unsalted, you will want to add a bit of salt)

• salt, as needed

Finely mince the bulbs and thicker parts of the ramp stems. Chop the leaves and set aside.

Place the minced bulbs and stems into a small saucepan with the lemon juice and water. Cook over medium heat until the pieces of the ramps are fully softened, about 2-3 minutes.

Take the pan off the heat, add the egg yolks, and immediately whisk vigorously to prevent them from becoming scrambled.

Return the pan to the heat and add the butter, one chunk at a time, whisking constantly to incorporate until you have used all the butter.

If you are not ready to serve, keep the sauce off the heat in a warm spot. If you have let the hollandaise sit for a few minutes, place it over a low heat and whisk again to smooth the sauce. Right before serving, mix in the chopped ramp leaves.

Grilled Ramps

I grilled a bunch, of ramps used two for the hollandaise, and used the rest as a condiment/garnish for the steak, asparagus, and potatoes

• Ramps

• Olive oil

• Salt

Clean the ramps if necessary. Arrange in a flat baking dish, in a single layer as much as possible. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Preheat grill to medium. Turn the grill down to low and place the ramps gently on the grill, with the leaves at the cooler part of the grill. Grill for 1-3 minutes, checking frequently, especially the greens. remove from the grill and proceed with the hollandaise recipe above.