Ramped Up: Ramp & Buttermilk Biscuits

I've been reading about ramps for a few years now but in Houston you're about as likely to find ramps as you are to find a pot of gold: I'm not saying it couldn't happen -- just that it's not very likely. The Gulf Coast just isn't a friendly climate for these little green leek-y things. I've gone back to my locavore habits lately and I've been haunting the farmer's market looking for signs of spring; you know, asparagus, strawberries, something, anything to give me a hint that warmer days are in my very near future. It's been sort of a bust on that front as the main offerings at the Dupont Circle market these days are still greens, leftover apples, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I did hit pay dirt, though, the weekend before Easter when I saw ramps. I think I may have accidentally squealed as I saw them and made a beeline to the table. I definitely got some strange looks but at that point I just wanted to check out the goods.

The April issue of Bon Appetit had a feature on ramps and there were some recipes that looked fantastic. When I was in Houston for spring break, my sister commented on how fantastic the biscuits looked. In fact, she couldn't stop talking about the ramp biscuits. She's in medical school, she eats, sleeps, breathes, talks, and lives medicine these days (she'll be a fantastic doctor) so when she comes up for air and notices something as mundane as a Bon Appetit recipe it gets my attention. I knew that I wanted to make those biscuits, I just needed the ramps. So, when I got my paws on them that's just what I did.

I was explaining the biscuits to my brother and he (also being very excited about the ramps) asked me to describe what ramps taste like. I'll disagree with the article that described them in terms of leeks or green onions -- their flavor is much, much more garlic-y than that. It's not quite as strong or pungent as garlic, it's more of an earthy garlic flavor, does that make sense? At any rate, they're delicious and I'll have to see what the bro has to say about them because I brought him some last weekend. Back to the biscuits, they're delightfully buttery and ramp-y, you can definitely smell the ramp/garlic flavor. The recipe calls to make them first in the food processor and then by hand. I just put them together in a bowl with a pastry cutter and they were fine and very easy to make. I didn't have any cracked coriander but I did crack some pepper over the top, does that count?


Ramp & Buttermilk Biscuits
Bon Appetit, April 2009

• 3/4 cup chilled buttermilk
  
• 3/4 cup thinly sliced trimmed ramps (bulbs, stems, and green tops)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 large egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
• 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds, cracked

Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix buttermilk and ramps in small bowl. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in processor. Add chilled butter to processor; using on/off turns, cut in butter until fine meal forms. Transfer flour mixture to medium bowl. Add buttermilk mixture; stir until dough forms. Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface and press out to 7-inch round, about 1/2 inch thick. Using 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out rounds. Gather dough scraps; press out to 1/2-inch thickness and cut out additional rounds. Transfer dough rounds to baking sheet. Brush biscuit tops with some of egg glaze. Sprinkle with cracked coriander seeds. Bake biscuits until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Cool on rack. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.