How NOT to Cook Fiddleheads

Food Recipes Series Issue 01

www.lillianlake.com When I was a little girl, I was fortunate to Table of Contents grow up surrounded Page 3 Facts On Fiddleheads by 48 acres of trees. Among the trees Page 4 Preparing Fiddleheads were trails where a Page 5 Cooking Fiddleheads little girl growing into adulthood could find Page 5 Freezing Fiddleheads solace. The branches offered canopies which provided seclusion Page 6 Roasted Fiddlehead Ferns with for time to think. All around on the forest Meyer Lemons and Capers floor grew all kinds of opportunities for Page 7 Fiddlehead Dijon foraging. One of those opportunities was for harvesting fiddleheads. My first time Page 8 Maine Shrimp & Fiddlehead Medley picking was not a successful adventure. I Page 9 Pan-Roasted Salmon with Morel had heard adults speak of them and how Mushrooms, Fiddleheads, & English Peas delicious they were so one day I thought I would surprise my mother and harvest Page 10 Stevia Sugar-Free Fiddlehead Pickles a large bowl of these delectable goodies. Page 11 Bread & Butter Fiddlehead Pickles Alas, the ones I harvested were imposters! Page 12 Plain & Pickled Fiddlehead Pickles I had harvested ferns which were encased in brown fuzz, rather than the fiddle-esque Page 13 Pioneer Sour Fiddlehead Pickles ones with brown papery coats. Page 14 Maple Mustard Fiddlehead Pickles I was so disappointed and sad. My mother Page 14 Sweet Pickled Fiddleheads took me for a short walk and taught me what to look for and where to find them most plentifully. She cautioned not to pick an area clean, but to take what was needed and leave the rest. Wise words for life through my mother’s eyes.

To aid you in your foraging, you will find information from the University of Maine Extension office that covers how to identify, harvest, and prepare these beauties. Enjoy!

Lillian

www.lillianlake.com

© 2018 Copyright LillianLake.com. All rights reserved. Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 2 Facts About Fiddleheads By Food Safety Specialist Jason Bolton, Ph.D., Food Science Professor Alfred Bushway Ph.D., and Extension Professional David Fuller. Originally developed by Extension Professor Mahmoud El-Begearmi.

Fiddleheads, an early spring delicacy throughout their range, are the young coiled fronds of the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris).

Nearly all ferns have fiddleheads, but those of the ostrich fern are unlike any other. Ostrich fern fiddleheads, which are about an inch in diameter, can be identified by the brown papery scale-like covering on the uncoiled fern, as well as the smooth fern stem, and the deep ”U”- shaped groove on the inside of the fern stem.

Look for ostrich ferns emerging in clusters of about three to twelve fiddleheads each on the banks of rivers, streams, and brooks in late April, May, and early June. Make sure that you have landowner permission before harvesting fiddleheads.

For information about UMaine Extension programs and resources, visit extension.umaine.edu.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 3 Preparing Fiddleheads Potential Foodborne Illness The Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Health Canada both have investigated a number of outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of raw or lightly cooked fiddleheads. Symptoms of this foodborne illness are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and headaches. These symptoms generally occur within 30 minutes to 12 hours after eating raw or undercooked fiddleheads and typically lasts less than 24 hours, If you experience symptoms after eating fiddleheads, see your health care professional. Under no conditions should fiddleheads be consumed raw.

Harvesting Fiddleheads Harvest the tender little rolls of ostrich fern as soon as they are an inch or two above the ground. Carefully remove the papery brown scales. Before harvesting in the wild make sure that you can properly differentiate the ostrich fern fiddleheads from other fern fiddleheads. Not all ferns are edible; in fact bracken ferns are carcinogenic and should not be consumed.

Cleaning Fiddleheads Fiddleheads can be cleaned by first placing them in a colander and thoroughly rinse/spray them off with clean cold potable water. Placing the rinsed fiddlehead in a bowl full of clean cool potable water should follow rinsing to remove the remainder of the brown papery coverings, and repeat as needed. They should be clean at this point.

Short-term storage Remember to keep fiddleheads refrigerated until you are ready to cook or preserve them. They can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Boiling Fiddleheads Bring lightly salted water in a pot to a rolling boil and add washed fiddleheads. The water should fully cover fiddleheads when added. Bring the water back to a steady boil and hold for 15 minutes.

Steaming Fiddleheads Bring a small amount of water to a boil preferably in How NOT To steam apparatus. Add washed clean fiddleheads and steam for 10-12 minutes. Cook Fiddleheads Sautéing, stir-frying or Serve at once with optional melted butter and/or microwaving ostrich fern vinegar. The sooner they are eaten, the more delicate fiddleheads are NOT their flavor. recommended methods for cooking fiddleheads. Freezing Fiddleheads Due to the short season for fiddleheads, freezing is the most common and safest way to preserve fiddleheads. To freeze, follow these steps: 1. Clean them based on the steps outlined above 2. Blanch a small amount of fiddleheads at a time for two minutes in 4-6 cups of water. As a reminder the blanch time starts when the water comes to a rolling boil after adding the produce. 3. Cool in a ice bath immediately after blanching (half ice water mixture) 4. Dry thoroughly and place into moisture and vapor proof containers such as resealable plastic bags. Do not over fill bags. 5. Place container in freezer. 6. To use frozen fiddleheads thaw in refrigerator or cold water and follow cooking direction outlined above before serving. Fiddleheads can be thawed in a microwave if for immediate consumption.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 5 Roasted Fiddlehead Ferns with Meyer Lemon and Capers

Yield: 2 to 4 servings Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 25 minutes

“This is a simply prepared recipe that Ingredients packs a lot of “wow” with little effort. • 12 ounces (4 cups) fiddlehead ferns Perfect for busy lives, right? I thought so, • 3 tablespoons olive oil too. Food doesn’t have to be complicat- • 3 tablespoons capers, rinsed ed, but we want it to taste good! They • 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice don’t keep long, so let’s get started! “ • 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest • 1 teaspoon thyme leaves, plus more for garnish • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced • ½ Fresno chile; stemmed, seeded, finely chopped • Kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Directions Preheat the oven to 450°. In a large bowl, toss together all the ingredients until incorporated and lay them out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast until golden and tender, 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter, then garnish with more thyme leaves and serve.

© 2018 Copyright LillianLake.com. All rights reserved. Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 6 This recipe can be made with virtually any mustard, but steer away from the hot ones. It will overwhelm the fiddleheads, not to mention your guests! Perhaps you foraged your own stash of fiddleheads out in the wild, If you like the essence white wine adds to a dish, look or snagged them from a roadside for a mustard with the wine already in it or add a tablespoon of white wine, leavimg out the lemon juice. stand or farmer’s market. Now what tasty morsel can you create from And this pairs well with grilled or oven-baked pork these green gems that can serve as chops, or even a roast. Your friends will think you a vegetable, even though we know worked all day. (Shhhh. I won’t tell if you don’t. ) them to be ferns? Fiddlehead Dijon Yield: 6 servings Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients • 1-1/2 pounds fresh fiddleheads • 1 tablespoon arrowroot • 1 cup nonfat buttermilk • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard • 3/4 teaspoon lemon juice • 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon • 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions Clean and prepare fiddleheads. Remove scales and wash thoroughly. Place fiddleheads in a vegetable steamer over boiling water. Cover and steam 20 minutes or until tender, but still crisp. Set aside, and keep warm.

Combine arrowroot and buttermilk in a small saucepan; stir well. Cook over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in mustard, lemon juice, tarragon and pepper. Arrange fiddleheads on a serving platter. Spoon sauce over fiddleheads. Serve immediately.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 7 Warning: Beware of buying farm raised shrimp...

We live in Maine, where you can get fresh, locally caught shrimp in season. But over 90% of the shrimp you see in the grocery store is imported, farm raised or trafficked shrimp that is dangerous to your health and the environment. Read about it here on my blog.

Maine Shrimp and Fiddlehead Medley

Yield: 6 servings Directions Prep Time: 15 minutes Cut off ends of fiddleheads. Remove scales and wash Cook Time: 25 minutes thoroughly. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan; Total Time: 40 minutes add shrimp and cook three to five minutes, or until done. Drain well, and set aside. Cook fiddleheads in Ingredients boiling water for 15 minutes. Drain. • 1 pound fiddleheads Coat a large, nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add • 6 ounces linguine, uncooked margarine. Heat until margarine melts. Add onion • 6 cups water and green pepper and sauté until crisp-tender. Stir • 1-3/4 pounds Maine shrimp in fiddleheads. Meanwhile, cook pasta as directed, • 1 teaspoon margarine without salt or oil. Drain well, set aside and keep • 2/3 cup onion, chopped warm. Add sliced mushrooms, thyme, pepper, salt • 1/2 cup green pepper, diced and celery seeds to vegetable mixture; stir well. Cook, • 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced uncovered, over medium heat three to four minutes • 1 teaspoon thyme or until mushrooms are tender, stirring often. Stir in • 1/4 teaspoon pepper shrimp and lemon juice; cook until heated through, • 1/8 teaspoon salt stirring often. Place pasta on a large platter. Spoon • 1/8 teaspoon celery seed shrimp mixture on top. Serve immediately. • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Yield: 6 servings Directions Prep Time: 20 minutes For the lemon sauce Cook Time: Salmon 10 minutes In a heavy stainless steel saucepot, combine the Cook Time: Lemon Sauce 15 minutes white wine, lemon juice, shallots, peppercorns, and Total Time: 45 minutes thyme. Reduce by ¾ over medium heat. Add the Ingredients cream and reduce again by ½. Reduce the heat to low and whisk in the butter, ½ teaspoon at a time. Pass For the lemon sauce through a fine-meshed strainer and keep at room • 1/2 Cup white wine temperature. • 1/4 Cup Meyer lemon juice • 1/2 Cup sliced shallots For the fish • 1/2 Teaspoon peppercorns Lay the salmon skin side down on a double layer of • 2 sprigs thyme paper towels to absorb the moisture. Season the • 1/4 Cup heavy cream flesh side liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a large • 1/4 Cup unsalted butter sauté pan over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the pan and bring the pan back to tem- For the fish perature, about 2 minutes. • Four 7-ounce salmon fillets, skin-on • Kosher salt Carefully add the salmon to the pan, skin side down, • Freshly cracked black pepper applying a little pressure to each fillet to ensure the • 1/4 Cup olive oil skin stays in contact with the pan. Cook until the skin • 8 Ounces morel mushrooms is slightly golden brown and naturally separates itself • 12 fiddlehead ferns, blanched from the pan, making it easy to flip with a spatula, • 1/4 Cup English peas, blanched about 4 minutes. Turn the fish over and cook for 2 • 1 bunch pea tendrils more minutes for medium rare.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in another sauté pan over medium heat. Add the morel mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, to taste, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add the fiddlehead ferns and peas and cook just until they are hot. Season with salt and pepper, to taste, remove from the heat, and fold in the pea tendrils.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of the lemon sauce in the center of each of 4 warm plates. Evenly distribute the vegetables on top of the butter and place a salmon fillet on each.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 9 Please read this before making home-made pickles. Please make sure to keep all canning tools and items properly sterilized and do not omit or cut back on sugar, vinegar or lemon juice quantities as these amounts stated in the recipes were found necessary to keep the food safe (from what they knew back then).

Although a common practice years ago, it is not recommended to simply pack hot food or sauces in sterilized jars, seal then store away (as many vintage recipes advise). Hot water baths are strongly recommended, and even then only for high-acidic recipes. Everything else is advised to be pressure canned.

For up-to-date guidelines follow suggestions outlined here: http://nchfp.uga.edu/

Stevia Sugar-Free Fiddlehead Pickles This recipe calls for “stevia” instead Ingredients of sugar. Stevia is derived from the • 1 gallon vinegar plant, Asteraceae and is related to • 1 teaspoon stevia ragweed and the daisy. It’s a natural • 1 teaspoon powdered alum sweetener 200 to 300 times sweeter • 1/2 cup salt • 1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves than table sugar. It’s especially • 1 teaspoon powdered allspice popular in South America, but has • 1 tablespoon powdered cinnamon gained popularity around the world. • 1/2 cup dry mustard

Directions Pack fiddleheads into jars; pour enough liquid to cover fiddleheads; seal at once. Process for 15 minutes in boiling water bath. Let stand at least two weeks before using.

Maybe you’ve wondered where the name came from for traditional New England bread and butter pickles made with cucumbers. They got their name during lean times when those delectable morsels were tucked between two slices of brown bread to satisfy a hungry belly.

Let me know what you think of this version made with fiddleheads and if you tried them with brown bread! Brown bread is also a New England favorite.

Ingredients Directions • 4 pounds fiddleheads In 8-quart enamel, stainless steel or glass container, • 3 large onions, thinly sliced stir fiddleheads, onions, salt and enough cold • 1/2 cup salt water to cover fiddleheads until salt dissolves; stir • cold water in ice. Cover; let stand in cool place 3 hours. Drain • 3 trays ice cubes fiddleheads and rinse with cold running water; drain • 5 cups sugar thoroughly. • 5 cups cider vinegar • 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric Measure sugar, vinegar, turmeric, celery seeds and • 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds mustard seeds into 8-quart Dutch oven or heavy • 1 1/2 teaspoons mustard seeds saucepan. Over high heat, heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low; simmer, uncovered 30 minutes, stirring often. Meanwhile, prepare jars and caps.

Add fiddleheads and onions to Dutch oven; heat to boiling. Spoon hot fiddleheads into hot jars to 1/4 inch from the top. Immediately ladle syrup over fiddleheads. Process 15 minutes in boiling water process canner. Cool jars and test for air tightness. Makes about 6 pints.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 11 Plain and Pickled Fiddleheads Ingredients • cider vinegar • sugar • 1/8 teaspoon each of pepper, ground nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice and celery seed

Directions Pour enough vinegar over the fiddleheads to cover; then strain it off into a pan. Add 1 cup sugar for every gallon of vinegar. Add a large pinch of each of the spices and celery seed. Boil this syrup for 7-8 minutes; then pour over the fiddleheads in pint-sized jars. Seal and process for 15 minutes in a boiling water process canner.

Here’s a tip for a crisp pickle. If you have them available, add a grape leaf or cherry leaves as the natural tannins in the leaves encourage crispness. Or add a smidge of alum to each jar. Alum can be found in most health food stores in small containers or check with your local grocery store. Failing those options, try sourcing online.

Pioneer Sour Fiddlehead Pickles Ingredients • 1/2 gallon cider vinegar • 2 cups water • 1/2 cup salt • 1/2 cup sugar • 1/2 cup mustard seed

Directions Mix ingredients, bring to boil. Pour over fiddleheads in pint-sized jars; seal; process 15 minutes in boiling water process canner.

© 2018 Copyright LillianLake.com. All rights reserved. Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 12 Maple Mustard Fiddlehead Pickles Ingredients • 1 quart button onions (peeled) • 1 quart fiddleheads • 2 cups salt • 4 quarts water • 1 cup flour • 6 tablespoons dry mustard • 2 cups maple syrup • 2 quarts vinegar Substitution TIp: This recipe calls prefers organic, Directions unbleached, white flour, but you may like Wash and prepare button onions and fiddleheads. to try substituting arrowroot. Arrowroot Mix salt and water. Pour over fiddleheads. Let stand is a tender thickening ingredient, overnight. Bring to boil, and drain in colander. Mix flour and dry mustard. Stir in enough vinegar to make meaning it works best with low heat, smooth paste. Add sugar and vinegar. Boil until thick otherwise it tends to break down into a and smooth, stir constantly. Add the fiddleheads and gooey, stringy mess. If this is your first cook until they are just heated through. (Overcooking time using it, save that experience for makes them soft instead of crisp.) Pour into jars and another recipe. seal immediately. Process 15 minutes in boiling water process canner. Makes 8 pints.

Sweet Pickled Fiddleheads Canning tip: Ingredients Pay special heed to not overcook your • 1 quart cider vinegar fiddleheads. No likes a mushy pickle • 5 cups sugar and that’s just what you’ll get with • 2 teaspoons salt overcooking prior to canning. Directions They will cook a bit more during the Mix your vinegar, sugar and salt in saucepan. Bring to processing time, so remember... just a boil, pour over fiddleheads in pint-sized jars; seal; barely fork-tender is sufficient. process 15 minutes in boiling water process canner.

Fiddlehead Recipes | Page 13 About The Author

Lillian Lake is a food blogger and regular weekly columnist for The Franklin County Journal. She is a....(more about food related experience)

A native of Maine, she practices what she teaches and loves trying out new recipes on her husband Mark and her children and grandchildren.

Next In The Series.... Tomatoes • Appetizers • Breakfast Ideas • Salads • Entrees • The Secret To Canning Tomatoes - What You Need To Know • How To Enjoy Fresh, Local Tomatoes Year Round.... Grown In Maine!