FOOD COOPS IN PIONEER VALLEY

by Sarah Klein, Quarry Café kitchen manager

Here are some suggestions for preparing those first beautiful local greens. Simply Prepared Fiddleheads This first recipe is from Pete, our Fresh Meat and Seafood Department manager. He tells us this is the way they cook fiddleheads in Maine. Bring water to a boil and dump in the fiddleheads for 4-6 minutes. The ferns will become a darker green than they started. Drain and fill the same pot with more water and boil fiddleheads again with some beef boullion, 10-15 minutes until they are as soft as you like, generally al dente, like pasta. Add some butter and salt…delicious! Grilled Fiddleheads Blanch the fiddleheads as above. Toss them in boiling water (as salty as the sea) for 3-5 minutes to par cook and set their color. Drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking. Prepare a grill to medium heat. If you have a glazing or cooling rack, put it on your grill so the fiddleheads don’t fall through. Toss fiddleheads with some oil of your choice (olive oil is a nice counterpoint to their slight bitterness). Salt and pepper to taste. Grill fiddleheads about 7 minutes, turning as needed so they cook evenly and don’t burn. Fiddleheads in Shallot Dijon Vinaigrette Try your fiddleheads in this simple shallot dijon vinaigrette. If you let them sit in the dressing, they will become lightly pickled and can sit this way for up to one week (they will turn slightly grey because of the acid but are still fine to eat). Alternatively, you can heat the vinaigrette in a sauté pan and stir in the fiddleheads, cooking until warmed through.

1 lb blanched fiddleheads

1 small shallot, finely minced

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tsp sugar or honey or agave nectar

¼ cup white wine or cider vinegar

¾ cup extra virgin olive, grapeseed or hazelnut oil Salt and freshly crushed black pepper to taste

In a small bowl combine shallot, mustard, sugar and vinegar. Drizzle in oil while whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk again. Taste and adjust seasonings. You can also throw everything in a jar with a close fitting lid and shake well to combine ingredients. ring to fiddlehead ferns, or young fern fronds that have yet to unfurl and which resemble the top of a fiddle. And if you’ve got a strong hankerin’ for asparagus and can’t wait until it pops out of our fertile valley soil, then your friend made a very good recommendation in fiddleheads because they actually resemble asparagus in flavor and can be used anywhere you would use asparagus, only they’re funnier- ooking. And if you ask me, I think Americans don’t get enough funny-looking food in their diets. Now don’t rush out to the woods to nosh on the first bunch of fiddleheads you find they’re not all edible. Be sure you know how to identify ostrich ferns. When you identify them, be careful not to harvest more than half from any one cluster, or you’ll sap the fern’s energy and the fiddleheads won’t grow back next year. Also, make sure they’re still tightly curled. They become inedible once they start to open. Fiddleheads are a good source of potassium and also contain vitamin C, niacin and iron. And while it’s ok to pop a few raw fiddleheads into your mouth, you shouldn’t eat too many that way because they contain an enzyme which depletes the thiamine from your body. The enzyme is destroyed by cooking, and you can cook them in a variety of ways. Steam them for about 8 minutes until they are tender. Or boil them in salted water for 4-6 minutes or until the stalks are bright green and still tender and crisp. You can also sauté them. You can incorporate fiddleheads into lots of different recipes and they are also delicious when served simply, with just butter and salt. So go ahead and add some funny-looking food into your meals and by the time the fiddleheads season is over (it only lasts a couple of weeks in late April), the much coveted asparagus will be here. Patiently awaiting that first shipment of fresh local fiddleheads,

Fiddleheads