Leek Salad with Morels and Ramps
| I have a thing for leeks I love their sweet, mellow taste, and I personally prefer them in my cooking over other onions. Granted they do require a bit more preparation, but you don’t have to deal with those annoying papery skins that seem to stick to everything. When you stop to think about it it’s a pretty decent trade off. |
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I believe it’s a shame to think of the leek only as an onion replacement tossed with other root vegetables as a base for some soup or stew. Delicious? Sure, but I fell in love with leeks in Paris as a dish unto themselves. Whole, steamed and glistening in a tart lemon dressing showered with a mimosa of hard boiled eggs. Leeks don’t have to share the plate with anyone; they can be and are the star of any dish! |
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Sure that’s my opinion and apparently I share my love of the leek with Apicus the 3rd century roman cookbook author (credited by the way with writing the world's first cookbook), who wrote that that the best leeks came from Egypt, and they were a vegetable to be served in their own right like asparagus, while onions are garlic were considered just a vegetable for seasoning; wise words indeed. |
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This salad is a “two-for,” not only do we use the
domesticated leek as the actual salad but its wild version, the ramp, is included
in the vinaigrette along with another wild icon, the morel mushroom. Far more potent than is larger cousin, the
foraged ramp has a garlicky perfume that wafts through the forest and brings
the same aroma to this delicious salad.
I love eating this dish at room temperature. That allows the robust ramp and morel vinaigrette time to marinate and marry with the leeks. Either served warm right out of the SV1, room temperature or chilled this spring salad is sure to satisfy. |
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Ingredients: For the Leeks: • 6 large leeks, trimmed and cleaned • 3 tablespoons olive oil • Kosher salt
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For the Morel and Ramp vinaigrette: • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, raw • 2 ramps, sustainably foraged or farmed, cleaned and chopped • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard • 1 tablespoon walnut oil • 3/4 cup olive oil, evcp or similar • Kosher salt • Black pepper • 1/2 pound morel mushrooms, sustainably foraged, washed thoroughly and dried, 1/2 pound fresh equals to 1 ounce dried and reconstituted • 2 eggs, hard boiled, optional, whites and yolks separated and chopped |
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Directions: 1. Preheat the SV1 to 85C/185F 2. Place the cleaned leeks in an appropriately sized VacMaster bag(s) and using a VacMaster chamber or suction machine vacuum pack the bag. 3. Place the bagged leeks in the water bath of the SV1 and cook for 1 or 2 hours or until the leeks are tender and feel soft when gently squeezed. 4. In a medium sized bowl and using a whisk blend the vinegar, ramps, and mustard until smooth. 5. Slowly add the walnut oil and 1/2 cup of the olive oil until well blended. 6. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, reserve |
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7. Heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil in a large heavy bottomed sauté pan over high heat. 8. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown. 9. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 10. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and leave them whole, halved or coarsely chop them. 11. Fold the warm mushrooms and any oil from the pan into the vinaigrette. 12. Spoon the vinaigrette over the leeks and sprinkle over the optional hardboiled egg whites and yolks 13. Serve immediately or at room temperature. |
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