ramps!

A friend of mine has ramps on her property and asked if I had any interest. Sure do.

First experiment, inspired by The Salted Cod's. The pickling brine is adapted from Ikuko Hisamatsu's Quick and Easy Tsukemono. The recipe is actually for Rakkyo Shoyu-zuke, or Rakko shallots in shoyu. I packed the ramps into a jar and covered with ½ c. shoyu, ¼ c. mirin, ¼ rice vinegar, some Korean chili flakes and a small square of kombu (kelp) cut into strips. We'll see in two weeks!

soup from the soup queen

Wild mushroom & walnut soup

Tunch showed off this wonderful soup in The Salted Cod. (Pictured is my attempt). It's wonderfully earthy and rich and extremely satisfying. I started it a bit late and the only store open (Big Y) didn't have leeks (neither did I, having just made leek soup) and I had forgotten porcini, but I made do. And half the liquid that I used was turkey stock (last of Thanksgiving's). I also, as suggested, upped the walnuts (who doesn't like walnuts anyway?). I also didn't use a blender (as I don't have one and food processors don't like soup) -- it was passed twice through my food mill.