Balsamic Fiddleheads

Friday, June 15, 2012

Have you guys seen/heard of fern fiddleheads? I hadn’t until about this time a year ago. A couple of my girlfriends and I went up to Maine for a girls weekend to celebrate my 30th birthday. We went out for a nice dinner and I had a risotto dish with fiddleheads.

Since that first experience with this curvey veggie, I knew I wanted to find some to cook at home for Hubby. This past weekend, at my first trip to the grocery store after our trip, I stumbled upon a basket of fiddleheads. I instantly snatched some up and headed home.

Hubby was a bit skeptical when he saw me preparing these for dinner. Once he took a couple bites, he agreed that they were a special treat. The flavor is very mild, similar to the stalk of broccoli or asparagus, but even more subtle.

I researched some techniques for cooking fiddleheads online and came up with this recipe. The sweetness from the shallot and balsamic play really well with the subtle vegetables. We both enjoyed this dish so much that I made it the next night for dinner too!

Two Years Ago: Homemade Chicken Broth and Veggie Chicken Soup in the Crockpot
Three Years Ago: Mounds Cupcakes

Balsamic Fiddleheads

Fiddleheads are a great spring/summer vegetable to mix things up with

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1/2 lb fern fiddleheads
1 Tbsp butter
1 shallot
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Set a medium pot of water to boil.

While water is boiling, fill a medium bowl with cool water.

Using kitchen sheers, trim the ends of the fiddleheads and toss into water.

Swirl fiddleheads around in water to wash them. Leave in bowl until water is boiling.

Once water starts boiling, add fiddleheads to boiling water. Discard bowl of water and boil fiddleheads for 5 minutes. Fill the same bowl with clean cold water and set aside.

Meanwhile, melt butter over medium heat in a medium skillet. Once butter starts to foam, add shallots and stir to coat with butter.

After the fiddleheads have boiled for 5 minutes, remove them and plunge into the bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the fiddleheads to the skillet and cook a few minutes.

Stir in balsamic vinegar and coat vegetables. Cook another minute and serve.

Side Dish

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12 Responses to “Indian Spiced Beans”

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1

Fun and Fearless in Beantown — January 11, 2011 at 5:09 pm

This does look easy and the ingredients seem really flavorful! I love simple meals like this that have a lot of flavor and make great leftovers 🙂
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2

Melissa — January 11, 2011 at 5:26 pm

I love Indian Food! I totally agree about the smell of garam masala cooking!
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3

Daisy — January 11, 2011 at 6:28 pm

sounds like a delicious easy meal! Great to see you and hubby last night!
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4

Mom-in-law — January 11, 2011 at 8:52 pm

BB – what is garam masala? What spices are in it (maybe I can recreate with what I already have).
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5

In and Around Town — January 11, 2011 at 8:55 pm

Looks like an easier dinner made a bit more fun with the Indian twist!
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6

Jen — January 11, 2011 at 9:00 pm

Mom-in-law: I buy garam masala at a small Indian market near our place. I did a quick Google and came up with this recipe.
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Bridget — January 12, 2011 at 4:15 am

I love garam masala!!! It’s one of my favorite ingredients.
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We Are Not Martha — January 12, 2011 at 6:23 am

Yum! I love Indian food and this is a great way to make it at home without a whole lot of work. And pretty healthy, too 🙂

Sues
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9

Robo Stir — January 12, 2011 at 3:43 pm

These Indian spiced beans look great! Thanks so much for the recipe.
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Michal Najman — January 7, 2013 at 10:28 am
This will be cooked in Prague today with minor modifications 🙂 (Occhio beans..)
- beantownbaker — January 7th, 2013 @ 8:52 pm
  
  Oh fun! I hope you enjoy them.
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Rebecca Cooper — April 28, 2015 at 6:53 pm

Would be helpful if the can size of the tomatoes were provided.