Fern Fiddleheads with Herbs
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Fern Fiddleheads with Herbs


California
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 side
**
20 min
No		 The basic recipe closely follows one published by the Los Angeles Times test kitchen. My pasta variation makes more efficient use of an expensive ingredient.

12
1
1
1
tt
oz
T
T
T
T
Fiddleheads (1)
Butter or Olive Oil  
Parsley
Chives
Salt & Pepper
Make:   -   (20 min)
  1. Trim FERN stem ends and rub off brown chaff, rinse thoroughly in a bowl of water and drain.
  2. Chop PARSLEY and CHIVES fine, mix.
  3. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, drop in Ferns and cook for no more than 4 minutes. Drain and refresh immediately in ice water.
  4. Heat Butter in a sauté pan until it foams, then stir in the fiddleheads and fry stirring until heated through. Stir in Parsley mix and serve immediately.
Now lets stretch those expensive fiddleheads.



1/2
3
3
3
tt
12
#
T
T
T
T
oz
Fiddleheads
Butter or Olive Oil  
Parsley
Chives
Salt & Pepper
Pasta (2)
Make:   -   (25 min)
  1. Prepare FERNS and HERBS as above except blanch the ferns in your salted pasta cooking water, scooping them out into the ice water.
  2. Bring your pasta water back to a boil and add Pasta. Turn down heat, cover and cook until al dente.
  3. When pasta is nearly done, heat Butter in a sauté pan and cook fiddleheads as above, mix in herbs and hold warm.
  4. Drain the pasta, return to the (now empty) pot and stir in the Fiddleheads along with their butter and herbs. Serve hot.
NOTES:

  1. Fiddleheads

      These don't grow here in Southern California, but, in season, some are available from high end yuppie outlets, such as Whole Foods Markets (also known as "Whole Paycheck Markets"). We have plenty of fern fiddleheads in a light brine in the Korean markets, but that's a different fern and doesn't taste the same. For details see our Ferns page.

  2. Pasta

      Broken pieces of Bucatini or Mezzanelli will match the fiddleheads well. For details see our Italian Long Pasta Shapes page.
  3. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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