BS: Fiddleheads

Subject: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 09:42 PM

Buddy and I went out this morning and picked us a good scoff.
Hardest part was the cleaning until I got me a flash then took those wonderful little buggers out to my shop and put the air hose to them. Sure did save a lot of time.
Did a quick impromptu receipt as an appetizer before supper. In the frying pan I threw in a hand full of the heads along with half a clove of chopped then crushed garlic, a sprinkle of parsley. Some butter to keep them well lubricated. Ground some pepper on them while they cooked. What a great treat.

Oh!, but before they went into the pan I boiled them for 5 minutes. Drained them, rinsed them, than boiled them again for another 5 minutes. Rinsed once more than into the pan. I may be going against all rules but I find that the first boil takes away a good part of the bitterness. The second boil makes them just right for the pallet

Beer (adrien)

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: ragdall
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 09:48 PM

Sounds very yummy! Great gathering!

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Janie
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 09:51 PM

I've foraged for and eaten a lot of wild greens in my life, but have never tried fiddleheads - never in the woods at the right time - Sounds yummy!

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: ichMael
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 09:53 PM

Aren't the pegs kind of hard to chew?

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 09:58 PM

Only if you have no teeth.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Rapparee
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 10:15 PM

Send some my way -- I love 'em!

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 10:29 PM

Lots of people eat them in southeast Alaska. These cool moist woods are an ideal habitat for them.

There's a trio of young (10-13) musicians in town who call themselves The Fiddleheads. They put on a good show; they sing, dance, play guitar, mando and fiddle. and bagpipes. :)

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Jeri
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 10:44 PM

I grew up in the midst of a lot of fiddleheads, and now they pop out in my back yard. Despite being around them, I've never actually eaten any. I'll go see if there are any that haven't unfurled, but sometimes, they sell them in markets. At least now I know a good way to cook them!

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 22 Apr 10 - 10:53 PM

Jeri,
make sure they are the Ostrich Fern.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: katlaughing
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 04:40 AM

I never tried them the whole time we lived in New England. My Rog cooked some up now and then. I loved seeing them come up along the roadways, etc. seems it was also about the time the peepers would start singing.:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Ed T
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:35 AM

Fern/fiddlehead info:


http://food-facts.suite101.com/article.cfm/ostrich_fern_matteucia_struthiopteris

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/qa/fiddlehead-facts.aspx

http://www.edmontonsun.com/life/healthandfitness/2009/05/18/9490291-sun.html

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: SINSULL
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 09:15 AM

I have some in a small front garden. Tried them once in a restaurant and they were just too bitter.
M

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 09:47 AM

Mary,

The key as Beer noted is to boil them twice, throwing out the water after each boil. That removes the bitterness.

Jeri,

Note well that not all ferns are edible. Will save some for you.

Beer,

I felt like breaking into Hemsworth`s `Blackfly` song. GREAT time though. Thanks so much.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 10:31 AM

When's dinner?

I grew up in a place where ostrich ferns were abundant.
The ones here are a couple of different kinds, and for some reason, they aren't growing yet. Maybe it got TOO wet for them?

There were a lot of lovely blackberry canes, in two different locations, when I moved here, and one summer, every last one died.

Black flies are out here too.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: nickp
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 10:58 AM

Only had fiddleheads once - visiting New Brunswick - and really enjoyed them.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Cuilionn
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 01:58 PM

Just got back from exploring the back thirty...up the steep wooded ravines and "down the rushy glen." Wandered the creekbeds, sandy flats, and ferny hillsides. Found trout lilies blooming and great swaths of skunk cabbage, two beaver dams, a very grumpy but fortunately rather distant porcupine, a scolding woodcock and a leaping deer. Found woolly-stemmed fiddleheads, red-stemmed fiddleheads, skinny little spotted fiddleheads, but nowhere in my thirty-acre wanderings did I find a single brown-papery-scale-covered grooved-stem ostrich fern fiddlehead.

*sigh.* Our elderly neighbor assures me that we have edible fiddleheads on our land. He should know, as he's been wildcrafting for decades and often harvests mushrooms, balsam tips, and other lucrative goodies on both sides of our boundary line. However, he recently had a stroke, so I know HE didn't beat me to them. So where ARE they?!?

Can anyone tell me what plants I might find near them, or any other hints or tell-tale signs? I feel like a complete fiddlehead-hunting failure!

--Cuilionn

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: gnu
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 02:03 PM

No blackflies in most of Moncton to speak of, all summer. But not far into the farm and wood lands there is.

I killed my first skeeter yesterday.

Beer... so that's why I never cared for fiddleheads! Thanks.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 02:08 PM

Cuilionn, ours were thick along the bank of the creek.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: pdq
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 02:47 PM

I'm reasonably sure that bracken fern is the most abundant species in North America.

It is regarded as poisonous, at least to livestock such as horses.

It seems a bit odd to bet on accidentally avoiding the commonest species.

I would not collect fiddleheads or mushrooms unless accompanied by a real expert such as a college-trained botanist.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: gnu
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 03:01 PM

... or Beer.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Sorcha
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 03:14 PM

:( Too dry for them here. Never tasted them, would like to.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Cuilionn
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 05:50 PM

Pdq-- Ostrich ferns are distinguished by the deep groove in their stems (i.e. if you break one off, the cross-section will look like a "u", not a "D" or an "O") a covering of dry brown papery scales, and an absence of any hairy or woolly covering.

While bracken fern and most other species are slightly toxic to humans, the risk they pose is nowhere near the risk posed by a mis-identified mushroom.

Sorcha-- I've been enjoying fiddleheads here in Maine for years, but I always end up getting them at the market unless someone gives us some as a gift. They have been variously described as tasting like asparagus, broccoli, okra, and/or mushrooms. I think they're mostly like asparagus, myself, and I prepare them the same way: wash well, steam until slightly past the "al dente" stage, then serve with butter and a little bit of cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 06:07 PM

Thanks for that gnu but I'm no Botanist. What I know about edible plants and mushrooms was passed on to me by walks with my father and I guess he learned from his father or mother.
Now I must get out and get some more because those that I picked are now in the deep freeze for the winter months.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: GUEST,999
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 06:23 PM

"While bracken fern and most other species are slightly toxic to humans"

That's why I'm saving them until Jeri comes up to Canada. She'll have some, and if she's walkin' around five hours later, voila.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 06:27 PM

Gee, thanks. "Slightly toxic" probably means a lot of barfing, but it's your place.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: maeve
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 06:33 PM

Lucky Jeri! Someone is living dangerously, LOL.

Bracken is toxic to cattle and horses according to the New Hampshire and Maine farmers I know. Lots of oldtimers will pick and eat the young shoots of several native ferns including bracken, and have done for years. I prefer to stick with Ostrich fern fiddleheads.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Sorcha
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:10 PM

And here, all this time I thought they were 'wild Boston ferns'. That is 2 things I've learned today!

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: pdq
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:23 PM

"I prefer to stick with Ostrich fern fiddleheads." ~ maeve

Perhaps you can explain how you tell one species from another when the fronds are still small and curled-up, which is what a fiddlehead is.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: maeve
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:43 PM

The simplest method is to mark a probable fern patch for certain identification later in the spring, and to wait to eat them after you are sure. Here are some links I think might be helpful:

http://www.gardenguides.com/86188-identify-fiddlehead-ferns.html


http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/htmpubs/4060.htm


http://depts.washington.edu/hortlib/collections/reference_questions.shtml

http://www.finegardening.com/how-to/qa/fiddlehead-facts.aspx

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:44 PM

It's just the tips that are curled up. There's a bunch of fern before you get to the fiddlehead part.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:54 PM

Had the first fiddleheads of the season last Sunday. Had to buy them, but Tom spotted them at the store to fix along with marinated meat on the grill. Steamed the fiddleheads, then sauteed in butter.

Last time I had a convenient spot to harvest them in the wild was when I lived in Springvale, Maine (York County) in the mid-'70s.

I also keep pickled fiddleheads in the fridge.

Linn

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: maeve
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 08:58 PM

You only want to pick them when the fiddleheads are just emerging, two inches or less, so there isn't much stem; just enough to see the "U" shape, the brown papery scales, etc. I often find last years' frond and spore heads still standing as described in the first link, above.

maeve

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: maeve
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 09:03 PM

Like this photo: http://merliannews.com/artman2/uploads/1/OstrichFiddleheadLabeled.jpg

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 23 Apr 10 - 11:07 PM

Hay Bat!! How about sharing your recipe for the pickled little buggers. I'm going back out and my Buddy is also.
Maeve!, the perfect picture.
ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: GUEST,999
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 04:06 PM

Maeve takes beautiful pictures of both fauna AND flora. I have been a happy recipient of many 'shots' over the years and they never fail to delight me. That gal not only knows what she's doin' with a camera, but she has a green thumb to envy. (Thanks, Maeve. Also, after the loss you had in the fire, please know that when you say so I'll send the shots back to you for your collection.)

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Ed T
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 04:19 PM

Cooking fiddleheads and leeks


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKINw9v3O5A

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: GUEST
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 05:27 PM

Thanks Ed. That was well worth the watch. I wouldn't have discarded the leafs though. I would have chopped them up and added them as well. I usually gather a lot more leaves when I'm picking leeks and wrap them up in Cellophane like a great big fat joint. Much like the one in the Cheech and Chong movie. I then put it in a zip lock bag and in the freezer for the winter months.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: Beer
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 06:42 PM

Hay 99+9!
I bought my fishing licenses today. Remember the fellow who spoke to us about the trout being caught in the past week? Well I got to thinking when we were picking fiddle heads, why not next time do a little worm on the hook. So I got the gear and my treat to get you your permit. So whatever day is good for us next week it will be fishing and fiddling.

Buddy will not be answering tonight as he has a big gig along with Penny Lang.
Ad.

Subject: RE: BS: Fiddleheads
From: maeve
Date: 24 Apr 10 - 09:31 PM

Thanks, 999. I can't claim credit for that nice shot of the fiddleheads. It's just right for recognizing the little dears, isn't it?

That fishing and fiddlehead trip sounds mighty good to me.

maeve