Seared Scallops with Creamy Spring Ramps

For me, spring is truly marked by the arrival of certain spring vegetables -- asparagus, morel mushrooms, fiddleheads... and, of course, the ubiquitous ramp.

Ramps (Allium trioccum), often called wild leeks or wild garlic, are a member of the lily family -- which also includes garlic, leeks, and onions. Resembling scallions, ramps begin at their base as lovely white bulbs whose gorgeous reddish-purple stalks rise upward into a plume of elegantly silky green leaves.  With a mild flavor poised deliciously between that of leeks and garlic, they make a delicious addition to pasta dishes and pestos. And they marry particularly well with farm fresh spring eggs.

But, they're also fantastic when featured on their own -- which is how we decided to showcase these lovely locally grown spring vegetables for the Virtual Vegetable of the Month Club challenge, hosted by our friends over at  innBrooklyn (If you haven't taken the opportunity to check out their blog, you really must. It's positively gorgeous! And a good read, to boot!).  

Having been inspired by a gorgeous posting on The Sprouted Kitchen for Scallops on Creamy Leeks, we decided to take Sara's concept in a new direction by simplifying it a bit, and using ramps in place of the leeks.

Since the delicately flavored leaves of the wild leek cook much faster than the bulbs and stems, we chopped each separately.  First, we sauteed the bulbs and stems gently in a few tablespoons of butter.

And then, when the stems were quite tender (10-15 minutes), we added the ramp leaves, along with about 1/4 cup of heavy cream.  We turned the heat to medium low and allowed the cream to bubble gently while we prepared the scallops.

We purchased 10 gorgeous dry packed sea scallops from the lovely Colleen who was working the fish counter at our local Whole Foods (we may joke about "Whole Foods" being synonymous for "whole paycheck" in our house... but the truth is, they have some of the best and most sustainable fresh seafood for purchase in the city of Milwaukee).  Dry packed scallops are particularly good for searing, since they are free of sodium tripolyphosphate (STP), a chemical additive added to many scallops to reduce the natural loss of moisture after harvest. STP can affect the flavor of the scallop, and it also increases their moisture content -- which hinders browning.

We dredged the scallops lightly in a mixture of white whole wheat flour and salt (not necessary, but a step that adds a delicious crust to the final product), and then set them to cook in a pan of hot bacon fat.  This is the point in the story when Peef begins to swoon, and it's no wonder.  You can just imagine the sweet, smoky odor that infused our kitchen as the scallops were cooking...

By the time the scallops were cooked (about 3 minute per side did the trick nicely), the ramps were tender and the cream had reduced slightly.  So, we spooned the wilted ramps onto warmed plates, topped them with the scallops, and sprinkled everything with a bit of chopped fresh tarragon from the garden.

We ate in near silence -- paying homage to the amazingly complimentary flavors on our plates. The ramps were sweet, fragrant, and slightly earthy -- with a green, almost forest-like flavor that belies their "wild" nature. The sweet licorice flavor of the tarragon played nicely off of both the ramps and the scallops -- whose crisp browned crust gave way to succulent, briny, perfectly cooked meat.

In less than 40 minutes, dinner was served. And it was Spring Heaven. On a plate.
Or, as Peef would say, "This is the best use of tarragon. Ever."  And I'd have to agree.

Seared Sea Scallops with Creamy Spring Ramps

Inspired? Well, why not try your own hand at something equally delicious? And you have at least two more days to submit your own spring garlic recipes to the Veg of the Month Club!  We'll see you there!


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Move Over Elvis, Mr. Brunch is Here (and he's got Girl Scout Cookies)

It all started with a tweet.
@mke_brunch (a.k.a. Mr. Brunch) declared that he was eating cookies in bed. Next thing we knew, we were meeting up at AJ Bombers for a Girl Scout cookie hook-up.

We promised Chris we'd come up with a clever way to use the 10 delicious Tagalong cookies he gave us, so I knew we'd have to come up with something pretty delicious. Fortunately, Peef declared that he had an awesome idea.

"How about a peanut butter-banana-bacon-Tagalong panino?"
I made a face.
Peef ignored me completely and hauled out a whole mess of ingredients and laid them on the island.

I was pretty skeptical, but I played along. After all, this idea could be crazy enough that it just might work. I suggested Peef start off by frying up the bacon.  Meanwhile, I cut up the bananas. 

I sliced them on the diagonal to increase their surface area, and then I threw them into a pan with a couple tablespoons of butter.  I let them sit in the hot butter for a couple of minutes without moving them at all. When they started browning on one side, I flipped them over.

Then, I added some brown sugar, a dash of cinnamon, and just a dab more butter.  I let the bananas cook for a few more minutes, until the sugar coated them nicely.  And then I pulled them off of the heat and let them cool down a bit.

They were awfully pretty... but they were also seriously hot (which I found out the hard way, by trying to taste one right out of the pan).  By now, Peef had finished up the bacon... so we started assembling our delightful creations.  First, we spread a few slices of bread with peanut butter.  Then we laid a few caramelized bananas down on the other slices.

We topped the peanut butter halves with Tagalongs... and the bananas with bacon.

And then we smashed everything together.

It's fortunate we have a nice panini press that accommodates thick sammiches -- cuz these little suckers were pretty tall.   Interestingly enough, it didn't take long for the stack to smash down into a melty, oozy, delightfully sweet mess.

I could feel the drool starting to accumulate in the corner of my mouth.  Slowly-but-surely, the skepticism I'd felt earlier in the day started to melt away.  And I found myself craving some of that peanut-butter-banana-cookie-bacon-bliss.

As we bit into those fantastic little sammiches, Peef's face said it all:

Turns out Tagalongs make a pretty fine panino. Especially when paired with caramelized bananas and bacon. The sandwiches were slightly sweet, with a delightfully peanut buttery flavor and just a hint of chocolate. The cookies lent a nice crunch, a lovely foil for the tender caramelized bananas.  The truth is, they really were pretty awesome.

What's even funnier about these little creations is that they'd be just perfect for brunch. Whaddaya think, Chris?

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon Panini

While you're at it, don't forget to check out the Girl Scouts Blog (thanks for the info, Sarah!)


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Exciting News for the Burp! Blog

We have some very exciting news to share with all of you!!

Thanks to all of your votes, we've been selected as the first of four finalists in the Family Recipe Revival.  

As part of our prize pack, we'll receive Strauss pasture-raised veal loin chops, three months of free digital cable from Time Warner Cable, a dough cutter and pastry scoop from Wolf and Sub Zero, a Regal Ware baking pan and an Il Mito points card worth $25.

But, THE BEST PART is, our Chocolate Hazelnut Schaum Torte will be featured on the menu at Il Mito Trattoria from Sunday, February 28 through Saturday, March 6. All of the net proceeds from the sale of our dessert will benefit the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee!

So, here's your excuse to eat more chocolate!  After all, it's for a good cause. 
We'll definitely be swinging over to Il Mito sometime next week... maybe you can join us?  Check in at the Burp! Facebook page for all the details (and become a fan)!

As if all that isn't exciting enough, our recipe will be automatically entered into the Family Recipe Revival Finals, which means we'll be competing with three other recipes (yet to be chosen) at the end of March for the chance to be crowned Family Recipe Revival champion. If our Schaum Torte recipe wins the popular vote, it will be featured on the Il Mito menu for an entire year!  Again, the net proceeds of the torte would benefit Hunger Task Force.

Voting on the final four recipes begins Monday, March 22 and runs through Sunday, March 28 -- so we'll be rallying the troops again for another round of voting later on in March.

In the meantime, thanks for all the support!
And we hope to run into you over at Il Mito Trattoria!

Of course, if you're not in the area, you could always make one up for yourself!
Chocolate Hazelnut Schaum Torte


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Pâté de Canard en Croûte Part 1: In Creativity We Truss

The only real stumbling block is fear of failure. In cooking you've got to have a what-the-hell attitude. -- Julia Child

Julia Child and I have three things in common: A love for food, a willingness to tackle anything, and an incredible "simpatico" with a husband named Paul. Julia was not only the first television chef in my memory, she was my hero. She could conquer anything, it seemed, and she always did it with a sense of humor.

So, when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called and asked me to tackle a recipe from Julia's classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking (especially a recipe as challenging as Pâté de Canard en Croûte), how could I turn them down?

Well, I couldn't.
At the newspaper's request, we've spent the past couple of weeks keeping hush-hush about our project. But today we break our silence.

First -- I'm very pleased to say that the recipe turned out really, really well. But, things didn't exactly go off without a hitch. And we met with a few more challenges than we expected. We survived the hunt for a trussing needle in Milwaukee, WI, we boned our very first duck, we wrangled with a particularly difficult French pastry, and we tasted baked cucumbers for the very first time.

If you're interested in hearing more about our adventures, stay with us. We'll be featuring a three-part series right here on the Burp! blog telling you EVERYTHING you want to know. There will be plenty of telling photographs ... along with all the witty dialog you'd expect from two crazy bloggers who are trying tackling a slightly laborious French duck recipe for the first time.

Part One: In Creativity We Truss (see below)
Part Two: You're Gonna Bone What?
Part Three: That's Just Fowl! And Other French Delicacies

Of course, you might also be interested to see what got published in the local paper. Starting tonight (Tuesday), August 4th, you'll also be able to access the Journal-Sentinel article online at: http://www.jsonline.com/features/food/ The article will feature our story, some never before seen photographs, and the first-hand accounts of other area food bloggers who participated in the challenge.


And so I present to you, the first of three parts:
Pâté de Canard en Croûte Part 1:
In Creativity We Truss

It was Thursday, July 16th, and I'd just gotten the phone call telling me that we'd been accepted into the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Julie/Julia Recipe Challenge. Our task: to make one challenging recipe from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking ... and blog about it.

Our chosen recipe would be a tough one -- Pate de Canard en Croute (Stuffed Duck in a Pastry Shell). We were excited, of course. But, we had exactly one week to prepare for the task at hand. So we were eager to get started. First, we studied the recipe and made our lists.

The edible ingredients (duck, veal, pork, flour, butter) didn't pose any serious threats; after all, we know our way around the city. But, the adventure started when we began hunting for things like, er, a trussing needle. I knew what it looked like; after all, Julia includes a variety of rather detailed illustrations in Master the Art of French Cooking. I also knew that they were available online. But I didn't have TIME for online. And so I got out the phone book.

"What did you want again?" said the voice on the other end of the phone line. This was the seventh culinary supply store I'd tried, and no one seemed to have what I was asking for.

"A trussing needle," I replied, "You know, to sew up poultry after it's been stuffed."

"Oh, yeah," he mumbled, "we don't carry those."

After exhausting all of the apparent sources, we headed off to the craft store. Certainly they would have something that would suffice. After 15-20 minutes of contemplation, I finally settled for an upholstery needle. The eye was large enough to accommodate my linen kitchen twine and, at 3 inches, it was the longest needle I could find.

I prayed it would work.

[to be continued...]
Part Two: You're Gonna Bone What?



©BURP! Where Food Happens

Morel Majority: THANKS for Your VOTE!

**EDITED TO SAY: Polls are CLOSED! YOU GUYS ROCK!!! ****
Thanks for all the votes... all the support... and for reading our blog and sticking with us. I promise we'll be back to our "regularly scheduled" programming now :)

Check out the Winning Announcement HERE.


First of all, I want to tell ALL of you how incredibly humbled and grateful we are for all of the support you've given us throughout this morel challenge! We are stupified. We could never have anticipated all the incredible emails... and comments... and votes!! It's Awesome!

But, the competition is still fierce. And a win is never guaranteed. So, it's back on the campaign trail for a few hours longer...

Did you vote for our Morel & Leek Strata over at Marxfoods.com? (Did you know that you can vote more than once if you have more than one computer?)

If not, we want you to at least consider a short trip over there to at least check out the competition. Cuz we firmly believe that we've got something good going on. And really -- If you can find anything more succulent, more tantalizing, more unique than this-here strata...
We'd be very surprised.
VOTE NOW!
The polls are officially CLOSED.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

It's NOT a Morel Dilemma: Vote for US!

Peef is crazed.

His love for morels surpasses many things in this humble world -- sunshine, tulips, clean underwear. It seems the only thing he loves MORE than morels is... bacon. But right now, that's beside the point.

The exceedingly short morel season makes them all the more appealing. They only show up at the market here in Wisconsin for a week or two in early May. On top of everything, his birthday is coming up -- right at the peak of morel season. So, he's seriously hoping that a couple of pounds of fresh morels will soon be on their way to his empty mailbox.

According to him, morels would be the Best Birthday Gift EVER.
A Dream-Come-True. Better than winning the lottery.

That's why he wants YOU to vote for the Morel & Leek Strata that he helped Lo to make for the Marx Foods Blogger Challenge. Competition has been stiff over at the polls, and we're counting on you to make it happen!Get Thee over to MarxFoods.com and vote.

It's a Morel Imperative.

For those of you who have voted... and voted again... and spread the word along to your friends... we want to thank you! You're simply the best.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Morelity: Taking you through the Strata-sphere

We've tempted you a little bit with the photo of our delicious morel mushroom strata. Now we're here to show you how it all came to be. (And encourage you to meander over to MarxFoods to cast your vote for the winning morel recipe! The Polls Are Open. VOTE HERE.)

We started with our ounce of dried morels. Freaky brainy-looking creatures, aren't they?? OH, but they are so very delicious. Stay with me here...

Take those morels and bathe them in a cup or so of heavy cream. Then heat everything gently over medium heat just until it hits a boil. At that point, whomp a cover on top and set the 'shrooms aside for about an hour to steep.

Meanwhile, chop up a bit of fresh thyme. And make yourself a nice batch of lemon thyme biscuits.
When the morels are ready, you'll notice that they're considerably softer than before. And your cream has taken on a completely new personality. Not only is it lovely and creamy -- but it is redolent with delicious morel flavor. Remove the morels from their creamy bath and set that lovely cream aside for later.
Chop the morels roughly. Don't forget to stop for a moment and appreciate their fascinating architecture. And then saute them in a bit of butter to ensure that they're fully cooked.
You've already sliced up a couple of cups of tender, fragrant leeks. You'll want to saute them in a bit of butter as well -- just until they're beginning to grow transluscent.Now, we'll move on to the custard. You'll take a bit of broth (either chicken or vegetable -- whichever you prefer) and heat it to the boiling point. While the broth is heating, you'll whisk up a few eggs with a bit of lemon juice. Temper the eggs, and then throw everything back into the saucepan. Heat it until it thickens into a delicious custard.
Then mix it with the morel-infused cream, some milk, and a bit of that chopped thyme.
Slice the cooled lemon-thyme biscuits in half and layer them into a buttered 9x13 pan.
Cover the biscuits with the sauteed leeks, morels, and a bit of grated Gruyere cheese. Try to prevent yourself from drooling all over everything.
Pour the fragrant egg custard gently and evenly over the top of the biscuits...
And then bake in a preheated 350ºF oven for about 30 minutes -- or until the custard is set and everything is browning a bit around the edges.
When the strata has cooled a bit, you can slice it into servings. We sprinkled ours with a bit of extra chopped thyme and placed it atop a bed of fresh watercress. We also fancied up a delicious ripe strawberry, and sliced one of the last of our perfectly ripe oranges to garnish the plate.
Your entire kitchen will smell positively fabulous by the time this strata comes out of the oven. And you'll be ravenous. Just don't forget to eat slowly. Savor and enjoy.

Morel & Leek Strata with Lemon Thyme Biscuits

If your tastebuds are tantalized, don't forget to vote for our recipe on the Marxfoods Blogger Recipe Challenge - Morel Edition.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Studies in Morel Development

What's that big banner doing on our blog?

I'm glad you asked.
As of today, fourteen lucky food bloggers have received 1 oz. of dried morel mushrooms from Marx Foods. We are one of those bloggers (OK, technically WE are two bloggers; but, we're ONE of the participating food blogs). With said mushrooms, we have received a mission:

1. Create a delectable, original recipe featuring dried morels
2. Get as many kind readers as possible to vote for said recipe (voting starts April 16th)

If we succeed, we will receive 2 lbs of fresh morels just as soon as the morel season begins in Washington.

We received our ounce of morels on Thursday afternoon. And since then, we've been wracking our brains to come up with the most scrump-dilly-ishous dish we could think of... something that would showcase the nutty, earthy flavor of the morels. Something interesting (NOT boring). And accessible (everyone can make it). And unique (we've not seen anything like it around). And ( ) phenomenally delicious.

After much deliberation, we decided upon this lovely morel strata. Delicious, buttery homemade lemon-thyme biscuits covered in sauteed leeks and morels and surrounded by a rich, creamy morel-and-lemon-infused custard. The perfect dish for your upcoming spring brunch... Your next luncheon... Or tomorrow's dinner.
Recipe: Morel & Leek Strata with Lemon Thyme Biscuits
(We'll post all the juicy details a bit later on in the week... along with a link to the site where you can vote!)
Now that you're drooling, maybe you're interested in procuring your very own batch of morels. If so, check out these lovely items at Marx Foods:
Fresh Morels
Dried Morels


©BURP! Where Food Happens