• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

FORAGER | CHEF

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

  • Home
  • About
  • Wild Mushrooms
    • Mushroom Archive
    • Posts by Species
      • Other Mushrooms
        • Lobster Mushrooms
        • Huitlacoche
        • Shrimp of the Woods
        • Truffles
        • Morels
        • Shaggy Mane
        • Hericium
        • Puffball
      • Polypores
        • Hen of the Woods
        • Dryad Saddle
        • Chicken of The Woods
        • Cauliflowers
        • Ischnoderma
        • Beefsteak
      • Chanterelles
        • Black Trumpet
        • Hedgehogs
        • Yellowfeet
      • Gilled
        • Matsutake
        • Honey Mushrooms
        • Russula / Lactarius
          • Candy Caps
          • Saffron Milkcap
          • Indigo Milkcap
      • Boletes
        • Porcini
        • Leccinum
        • Slippery Jacks
    • Recipes
      • Fresh
      • Dried
      • Preserves
    • The Basics
  • Plants
    • Plant Archive
    • Leafy Green Recipes
      • Leafy Green Plant Varieties
    • Ramps and Onions
    • Wild Herbs and Spices
      • Spruce and Conifers
      • Pollen
      • Prickly Ash
      • Bergamot / Wild Oregano
      • Spicebush
      • Golpar / Cow Parsnip
      • Wild Carraway
    • Wild Fruit
      • Wild Plums
      • Highbush Cranberry
      • Wild Grapes
      • Rowanberries
      • Wild Cherries
      • Aronia
      • Nannyberry
      • Wild Blueberries
    • From The Garden
    • Nuts, Roots, Tubers and Grains
    • Stalks and Shoots
  • Meat
    • Four-Legged Animals
      • Venison
      • Small Game
    • Poultry
    • Fish/Seafood
    • Offal and Organ Meat Recipes
    • Charcuterie
  • Recipes
    • Pickles, Preserves, Etc
    • Fermentation
    • Condiments
    • Appetizers
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Side Dishes
    • Entrees
    • Baking
    • Sweets
  • Video
    • Field, Forest Feast (The Wild Harvest)
    • Foraging Videos
    • Lamb and Goat Series
    • YouTube Tutorials
  • Press
    • Podcasts / Interviews
  • Work
    • Public Speaking
    • Charity and Private Dinners
    • Forays / Classes / Demos

Pickled Ramp Sour Cream

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
roasted beets with pickled ramp sour cream

A hilarious concept photo I shot a looong time ago. Shooting a plate of red beets tossed with sour cream was difficult, so I took a more creative approach.

Pickled ramp sour cream is one of the most hard-working garnishes I’ve ever served. I remember tables regularly ordering multiples, or repeat sides of the roasted beet dish I used to serve with them that I’ll share with you, too.

It’s no secret everybody loves picking ramps, and, of those that harvest their own, plenty of them also like making pickled ramps. But, rarely do you hear about what people actually do with said pickled ramps. Newsflash: you can actually cook with them, and they’re amazing. It’s counter-intuitive though, and I get it.

Pickled Rampsi

Late season ramps have big bulbs and can be tougher than younger ramps, if I’m using them, I’ll make sure to chop them pretty small.

I mean, compare pickled ramps and cukes. Cucumber pickles are usually put on a bun and eaten with a sandwich, on the side or something similar (although Russian dressing is a good counter-example). Same thing with pickled peppers onions, etc.

Pickled ramps though, are not something I’m just going to toss on a sandwich whole, put on a charcuterie plate, or eat out of the jar. To me pickled ramps are a seasoning, and their alliaceousness is best spread out a bit, just like when they’re fresh. I mean, ok, maybe throw one in a gimlet, sure, but it’s a novelty.

But, take those same pickled ramps, cook their liquid down until the flavors concentrate, them mix it into some sour cream with fresh herbs, and you’ve just made a ridiculously good garnish for all kinds of things, my top three being fried fish, roasted beets, and crispy potatoes.

It’s a great all purpose condiment, and you’ll be surprised on what it doesn’t taste good on, more that what it does.

Even better, is that the pickle liquid and ramps are essentially a preservative, so if you whip up a banch of rampy sour and store it in your refrigerator, and, for some reason lasts for more than a few days, you’re not going to have to worry about it turning or sporting mold, not for a long while, at least.

A recipe for hen of the woods mushroom fritters
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Pickled Ramp Sour Cream

Tart, slightly tangy pickled ramp sour cream is the condiment you never knew you couldn't live without.
Prep Time5 mins
Cook Time5 mins
Course: Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Pickled Ramps, Sour Cream
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 cup pickled ramps chopped
  • 1/4 cup pickled ramp liquid
  • 1 tsp tarragon or dill chopped

Notes

A teaspoon of tomato paste added to the ramp liquid while it cooks is a great variation. See my basic pickled ramp recipe here. 
pickled ramp sour cream
Add the sour cream to pickled ramps that have been cooked down in their juice.
pickled ramp sour cream
roasted beets with pickled ramp sour cream
Add to warm roasted beets
1/4 cup pickled ramps, See a recipe for them HERE
Toss to coat, adding a little water if necessary to keep it creamy
1/4 cup pickled ramps, See a recipe for them HERE
Print Recipe
5 from 1 vote

Roasted Beets with Pickled Ramp Sour Cream

Roasted beets with a tangy dressing of sour cream and pickled ramps
Prep Time10 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Course: Appetizer, Salad, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Beets, Pickled Ramps
Servings: 4

Ingredients

Pickled Ramp Sour Cream

  • 1 cup  sour cream
  • 1/4 cup  pickled ramps chopped
  • 1/4 cup pickled ramp liquid
  • 1 tsp  tarragon or dill chopped

Beets

  • 1/2 cup pickled ramp sour cream from above
  • 1 lb mixed beets such as red, gold, chioggia, or white
  • Kosher salt and pepper as needed
  • Water if needed to thin the sauce

Instructions

Ramp Sour Cream

  • In a small saucepan, combine the chopped pickled ramps and pickle liquid and bring to a simmer until reduced by half-this may take a couple minutes, or may be very quick, depending on the size of your pan.
  • Pour the ramps and liquid into a bowl, add the sour cream and tarragon, mix, adjust the seasoning for salt and pepper until it tastes good to you, then cover and refrigerate. It will last for a week or two, or longer in the fridge.

Beets

  • Place the beets in a deep roasting pan, add water so that about 1/4 of the beets are submerged. Double wrap the pan in aluminum foil, making sure no foil touches the beets. Roast the beets at 375 for an hour or so depending on size, or until tender when pierced.
  • When the beets are tender, cover them in ice water, this will shock their skin and make it easier to peel.
  • Peel the beets and cut them into similarly sized shapes.
  • Heat a saute pan with a couple tablespoons of water, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Heat the beets until they are warm throughout, then add the pickled ramp sour cream to taste, toss to coat, and add a little water if necessary to make a creamy sauce. If you like the beets extra creamy, add some more sour cream. Double check the seasoning, adjust as needed and serve immediately.

Notes

See my pickled ramp recipe here. 
 

More 

Ramps: Harvesting, Sustainability, Cooking and Recipes 

Related

Previous Post: « Classic Fried or Breaded Morels
Next Post: Teamwork In The Kitchen »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Forager|Chef – Beef Tartare with Ramp Vinaigrette and Pickled Hen of the Woods Mushrooms says:
    May 2, 2013 at 10:45 am

    5 stars
    […] a little luxury to anything when you need it most, especially in the winter. (Pickled ramp recipe HERE) One of the things they are really great to add to is as a vinaigrette to beef tartare. Beef is […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

James Beard Award Winner

beard award

Subscribe (It’s free)

Forager Chef

Forager Chef

Footer

Instagram

foragerchef

FORAGER | CHEF®
🍄🌱🍖
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
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Privacy

  • Privacy Policy

Affiliate Disclosure

 I may earn a small commission for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial, and/or link to any products or services from this website. Your purchases help keep this website free and help with the many costs involved with this site as it has continued to grow over the years. 

Copyright © 2022 ·