Fiddleheads
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cross-posted from: https://midwest.social/post/27601124

I have Ostrich fern on the front of my house that I have been waiting years to try. I keep missing the window when they are ready so I was overjoyed when I saw my fiddlehead popping up. I chopped 9, steamed with in a pan with a little butter for 5 minutes. I plated them with just a sprinkle of flaky salt and had them for lunch today.

They were great and tasted a little like asparagus but with a more savory, earthly flavor. They were amazing and totally worth the wait. I might check tomorrow to see if I can sustainability grab a few more to have them again.

10/10 would forage again.

    • dumples@midwest.socialOPEnglish
      2·
      3 days ago

      I heated some butter in a pan and added the fiddleheads and then put in ~1/4 cup of water in my pan and covered with a lid. They then steamed for ~5 minutes. So I don’t know if you would call that blanching but steaming. They need to be boiled or steamed from 5-8 minutes according to my foraging book. So I think blanching which in my mind is a quick boil won’t cook them enough. They are mildly poisonous unless cooked like lots of wild plants.

      • BigDiction@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        3 days ago

        Cool, yeah that’s steaming.

        Blanching is a faster cook and then immediately into an ice bath to halt the cooking process. Basically the equivalent of cooking veggies rare.

        Great with peas and broccoli from the store, but to avoid any food safety concerns what you did makes sense!

        • dumples@midwest.socialOPEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          That was my thought. Blanching in my mind is quick and won’t work for this. There some protein / enzyme that needs to be deactivated. They weren’t crispy but still had some texture. It was great.