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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Artichokes with Ramp Leaf Butter

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Steamed artichokes with ramp leaf butter recipe Artichokes with melted ramp butter? No, no that won’t suck at all.

I’ve been getting a good amount of questions about how to use ramp leaf butter after it’s made. To me, there’s so many options that the possibilities seem endless, but I get that it can help to have some very specific examples. One of the best ways to use it is as you would any other compound butter—just apply it to things and eat. With a steak or a piece of fish, you might want a quivering, gently melting slice on top, placed on the hot meat at the perfect moment when it hits the plate for you to bask in the melting, basting glory that is arguably the most widely made preserve of everyone’s favorite wild leek.

Steamed artichokes with ramp leaf butter recipe

Artichokes are so sexy. Edible thistles!

Other times, I might literally melt it and dip stuff in it, like you see here: my new favorite way to eat artichokes. Artichokes are so minimalist, so pure and clean, I second guessed myself as I microwaved (yes I’ve started using the infernal but occasionally useful machine)  a fat lump of ramp leaf butter to dip my artichoke leaves in one night, but there was no need to worry.

Steamed artichokes with ramp leaf butter recipe

Is there better than dipping something in melted butter? Yes, dipping it in ramp butter, apparently.

The toe curling smell alone of the steaming hot butter and it’s verdant tone was enough to dissuade any doubts outright. It’s hard to describe, but the aroma is a dead ringer for something along the line of garlic breadsticks from another dimension. It’s just one of those things—whispy scent fingers that hypnotize and pull you towards them like Bugs Bunny to a carrot cake steaming on a windowsill, calling, demanding, crying to be eaten.

 

Funny story too, part of the reason for pairing the ramp butter with artichokes was my own selfish creature comforts. I can’t eat enough wild leeks: raw, fermented, pickled—every which way. My partner has an allergy though—she can’t have alliums in any way shape or form, unless they’re beyond cooked—say in soup, stew, or otherwise long-cooked. Wouldn’t you know it though, gently melted ramp butter paired with a big juicy artichoke apparently doesn’t cause any problems for her at all! Maybe there’s some sort of new, unnamed gastro-symbiosis that happens when the two are eaten together? Or maybe it’s just so damn good she doesn’t care. 😉

Steamed artichokes with ramp leaf butter recipe
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Steamed Artichokes with Ramp Butter

Simple steamed artichokes are the perfect vehicle for your ramp butter.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time25 mins
Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Artichokes, Ramp Leaf Recipes, Ramps
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 4 ea Artichokes choose firm, nicely green artichokes without too many blemishes, preferably organic or from your local coop
  • 8 tbsp ramp leaf butter

Instructions

  • Put the artichokes in a steamer basket in a larger pot with a few inches of water, then bring to a simmer, covered, turn the heat down to low, and steam until tender, roughly 20-30 minutes. depending on your artichoke.
  • To test the tenderness, I see if a leaf of two removes easily, if they do, it's done.
  • When the artichokes are done, melt the ramp leaf butter in a pan, or just toss it in the microwave, then divide into 4 small dipping bowls.
  • Serve the artichokes with the butter on the side for dipping, along with a larger bowl at the table for collecting the spent leaves and choke. If this isn't the best tasting way to have artichokes you've ever had, please contact me for a full refund.

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
James Beard Award ‘22
Host: Field Forest Feast 👇
streaming on @tastemade

Alan Bergo
Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot Had a blast on the last day of the @wild.fed shoot cooking in the Garden of Eden, a.k.a Sam Thayer’s orchard. 

We’d planned on making ground squirrel, bullfrog and crayfish gumbo but only the crayfish came through. Luckily I had some back up andouille just in case. 

It’s may not be traditional, but gumbo with crayfish broth, a heap of @mushroomforaginginmn porcini, milkweed pods (in lieu of okra) wild rice and crayfish-chanterelle salad didn’t suck. 6 of us polished off a gallon 😁.

H/o to chef Lenny Russo who I pestered with questions on frog-based foods beforehand. Hyper-local meals like this are what we made at Heartland in St Paul during my tenure there. 

@danielvitalis 
@grantguiliano 

#ditchlobster #mudbugs #gumbo #crayfish #wildrice #wildfed
Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water Long, fun day snatching crayfish out of the water by hand with Sam Thayer and @danielvitalis for @wild.fed 

Daniel and Sam were the apex predators, but I got a few. 

Without a net catching crayfish by hand is definitely a wax-on wax-off sort of skill. Clears your mind. 

They’re going into gumbo with porcini, sausage and milkweed pods today. 

#crayfish #ninjareflexes #waxonwaxoff #normalthings #onset🎥🎬
Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizo Working all day on preps for cattail lateral rhizomes and blueberries for this weeks shoot with @wildfed 

Been a few years since I worked with these. Thankfully Sam Thayer dropped a couple off for me to work with. They’re tender, crisp and delicious. 

Sam mentioned their mild flavor and texture could be because they don’t have to worry about predators eating them, since they grow in the muck of cattail marshes. 

I think they could use a pet name. Pond tusk? Swamp spears? Help me out here. 😂

Nature makes the coolest things. 

#itcamefromthepond #cattail #rhizomes #foraging #typhalatifolia
I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so I liked the staff meal I made for Mondays shoot so much we filmed it instead of the original dish I’d planned. 

Cooked natural wild rice (not the black shiny stuff) is great hot, cold, sweet or savory. It’s a perfect, filling lunch for a long day of berry picking. 

I make them with whatever I have on hand. Mushrooms will fade into the background a little here, so I use a bunch of them, along with lots of herbs and hickory nut oil + dill flowers. 

I’m eating the leftovers today back up in the barrens (hopefully) getting some more bluebs for another shoot this week w @wild.fed 

#wilwilwice #wildrice #chanterelles #campfood #castironcooking
Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine Baby’s first homegrown mushrooms! Backyard wine caps on hardwood sawdust from my lumberjack buddy.

Next up blewits. Spawn from @northsporemushrooms

#winecaps #strophariaaeruginosa #allthemushroomtags
It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from It’s wild cherry season. I’ll be picking from my favorite spot tomorrow a.m. and have room for a couple helpers. It’s at an event on a farm just south of St. Cloud. 

If you’re interested send me a message and I’ll raffle off the spots. Plenty of cherries to go around. I’ll be leading a short plant walk around the farm too. 

#chokecherries #foraging #prunusvirginiana #summervibes
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