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| Ramp It Up by Ivy Knight
Last week I had my friend, Phillipa, coming over for a visit, an afternoon of tanning and cocktails, I assumed she’d be staying for dinner and went to the butcher’s for some pork chops to grill later. On my way to the Cattlemen Meat Market (1538 Queen West) I ran into Ashley aka Trashley, my pillow fighting partner in the "Party Rockers", the only fight team sanctioned by League, she asked what I was doing that night so I invited her over for dinner too. While waiting in line at the butcher’s I got a call from Chef David Chrystian (Chez Victor) saying he had a surprise for me. What the hell, I invited him as well, "Better make that ten chops Ivan". Later, Trashley, Phillipa and I lounged in the sun while my husband Kerry ran off to the Argonaut Rowing Club, where he’s the Head Coach, saying he’d be back around 8PM to fire up the grill. Phillipa then told me she couldn’t stay for dinner as she had a movie date with her boyfriend, Nathan. Trashley suggested we call her roommate Meghan aka Goldie Knox, retired Pillow Fighter, and invite her. Trashley didn’t have Meghan’s cell number, so we called Trashley’s cousin Mel for the number and invited her as well. This is how it’s done Chez Knight. Like a good guest, David called before heading over to see if we needed any booze. We did, of course, and put in an order for more wine. He arrived with lots of wine and two big bags of beautiful wild leeks, already cleaned and ready for cooking. He’d gone out foraging for wild leeks, aka ramps, a few days previous with three chef buddies, Alex Tso sous-chef at Chez Victor, Anne Rumble of Pequeno Catering and Milton Tanswell, chef at Joy Bistro. They went to a secret location north of Barrie and immediately started picking. "When you’re down on the ground picking you can lose sight of the people you’re with." Says David, "I lost everyone for a while until I heard Anne’s voice saying she’d picked three bags, then I heard Milton respond that he’d only picked one. I’d picked five so I knew I was on top." He laughs and tells me Milton only filled one bag because he’d hold up each wild leek to the sun and inspect it for damages, only wanting to put perfect specimens in his bag. Milton is a nerd that way. So, here I was with two bags of ramps, an impromptu dinner party and a roster of guests getting slowly hammered who would eat anything I put in front of them. I hit the kitchen running. I always keep pickling liquid in my fridge for pickled coleslaw. There’s no recipe really, just dump in two parts sugar to one part salt, red wine vinegar, some water, and spices (fennel, pink and black peppercorns, mustard seed, bay leaf). Shake it up and if it tastes good throw in your raw veg, in this case the bulbs of the ramps sliced in half. I put that in the fridge to let it pickle itself for a few hours and set to work making a ramp cream sauce. Just a typical cream sauce but with chopped wild leek bulbs and stems sautéed in butter then deglazed with white wine and a bit of lemon juice, add cream and let reduce. I’d add chopped ramp leaves to the sauce just before serving it over zucchini pappardelle. Instead of pasta, grab your veg peeler and peel the zucchini into long pappardelle-like strips, sautée in butter until wilted, top with cream sauce, serve. Next up, some garlic bread sans garlic, chopped leek bulbs and stems mixed with softened butter and spread liberally over ciabatta ready to be toasted right before dinner. The coals were lit, Trashley was shucking the corn, David was taking the chops out of the brine (I always brine pork chops for a few hours before cooking in a 2-1 sugar and salt water mixture. It makes a real difference in keeping them juicy.) and patting them dry, I was setting the table and Kerry was entertaining Mel and Meghan with his usual ‘hail fellow well’ met routine. While David grilled the chops and corn on the cob, I put together the first course of "pasta" and cream sauce. Topped with toasted pine nuts, a little lemon zest and shaved parm, it was a beautiful dish. As soon as that was demolished David and I plated up the main course. We had grilled pork chops topped with pickled leek bulbs, sautéed leek greens, grilled corn on the cob and wild leek butter on toasted ciabatta. It was a delicious meal that made the whole house and probably half the neighbourhood smell like ramps, a heady bouquet that always takes me back to the first time I ever encountered this ephemeral harbinger of spring. At Mildred Pierce, Chef Segar Kulasegarumpillai, would bring bushels and bushels of ramps to the kitchen. They would be absolutely covered in mud and would have to be rinsed a million times. Then the leaves would be removed, blanched and shocked to be frozen for use throughout the rest of the year. The bulbs would be pickled and a lot of the little babies would be used in specials and soups over the next few weeks. The pungent garlic/onion/woodsy smell would take over and permeate our clothes and skin. It felt like winter would never end this year and after our wild leek feast it finally feels like spring. Although, after that dinner I’m sick to death of ramps and don’t want to see another one until next year, we’ve got a lot coming in to The Rushton so I’ll be knee deep in them for a little while yet. How I long for a fiddlehead. Email Ivy at ladyslenderlegs@gmail.com |   |
 When not writing about food for eGullet and Gremolata or pillow fighting as 'Vic Payback', Ivy Knight works for a living as a cook in Toronto.READ MORE IVY AT GREMOLATA: Stop It: Ivy hangs out at the food bank The Big Smoke: Ivy Does BBQ Hot & Sour Hangover Cure: Ivy finds the best liquid lunch The Acadian Feast: Ivy learns how to really cook from her grandmamman Gone Vegan: Ivy eschews meat on a donkey farm Staff Meals: Ivy reveals what the cooks eat. Why Would You Do This? Ivy wonders why anyone would work in a kitchen. Quebec City Here I Come: Ivy mange tout! Sketch: Ivy visits a unique program for street kids Island Heat: Ivy eats her way through Caribana Sausage Party: Ivy discovers Berkshire pork Fill My Bowl: Ivy attends a gourmet fundraiser Brunch Bites: Ivy does not like brunch Apple of the Earth: Ivy makes potato salad Photo: Chris Blanchenot
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