Let's talk summer foods. Particularly, let's talk about morels and ramps. Morel mushrooms are wild, like really wild, as in you need to go out into the woods and find them. They are also seasonal...and it's the season. Morels pop up in the beginning of spring. Dried and re-hydrated morels are available all year long, but fresh morels have been absent from the market through the long cold winter months. The first crop on the market this year was disappointingly bland, so we took a pass. But now we finally have great morels. In Stage Left, we're offering morels, simply roasted with herbed cream (optional) as an appetizer or a side (try them with chicken). Wine Suggestion: Pinot Noir!
Another harbinger of spring, is the arrival of the tender and peppery spring onion, known as the ramp. While fresh ramps are delicious, ramps respond exceedingly well to pickling.
Pickled ramps aren't just a second-best substitute for fresh, they're one of our favorite things to pickle. The acid accentuates the peppery/spicy qualities of the ramp and they even get a little crunchy. Yum.
In Stage Left, we are serving pickled ramps alongside grilled ramps and and ramp greens with scallops as an appetizer. Ramp gazpacho is our first cold soup of the season and Pickled Ramps also make an appearance with brook trout, asparagus and sunchokes.
Make reservations online here. Ramp up for summer!
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Morels with Herbed Cream
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Pickled Ramps
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Scallops with Ramps
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