fiddleheads

Dried fiddlehead ferns are a fun thing to keep in your pantry,  and a good, non-refrigerated or pickled preservation option if you have a large patch. You can make smaller amounts, but it seems silly to dirty a pan for less than a couple pounds.

Dried Fiddlehead Ferns / Gosari

water

Kosher salt (to taste)

Brush off as much of the brown paper covering from the ferns as you can, if any.

Cut the stems of the fiddleheads into 1 inch lengths, keeping the coiled croziers whole.

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil, then blanch the ferns and cook for 60 seconds.

Turn off the heat and quickly remove the ferns with a slotted spoon or Chinese spyder strainer (get one if you don’t have one) and allow to cool naturally and drain, spread out (you can use the dehydrator trays) for a few minutes, patting them dry to remove excess water.

Dehydrate the fiddleheads on high (145-150 F-ish) for 24-48 hours or until completely bone dry, then store in an air tight container like a mason jar in a cool dry place. They’ll last until next season and beyond, just make sure they’re completely bone dry before storing.

To rehydrate and cook the ferns, soak them for a few hours until soft and chewy in cold water, or cook in water to cover in a pot until they&#039;re tender and taste good to you, then drain and add to whatever recipe you’re making.

Lactofermented fiddlehead ferns. This will make 1 quart jar.

Lactofermented Fiddlehead Fern Pickles

salt

grape leaves

dill

red pepper

garlic

inch peel of lemon zest (optional)

black peppercorns

mustard seeds (optional)

Water

Clean the fiddleheads and trim the stems. If needed, rinse them to remove any remainder of brown husk. If you have long stems, and want to add them, cut them into lengths about the same size as the croziers (fiddleheads).

Blanch the fiddleheads and garlic (garlic will discolor eventually and turn blue, but this is purely aesthectic) and stems if using for exactly one minute at a rapid boil, then remove and spread out on a cookie sheet, allowing to cool naturally.

Toast the peppercorns and mustard seed.

Tare your scale to zero, weighing in grams. Put the jar on the scale. Pack the garlic and fiddleheads into the quart jar, along with the seeds, dill and lemon, then add water until It completely covers the fiddleheads. Take the total weight of the ingredients, multiply it by .03, then add that many grams of salt. Put the lid on the jar and shake well to help the salt distribute, and continue until most of it is dissolved.

If you don’t want to weigh your salt, just add 1.5 tablespoons. Learning to weigh things to ferment them at a specific percentage of salt is a useful, easy to learn skill though, just sayin.

Put the grape leaves in the top of the jar, then put a small rock on top to hold everything in place. If you filled it full and water sloshes out, it’s ok.

Allow the mixture to ferment at room temperature for a few days (with the jar placed in a larger container to catch any migrating liquid) or until you notice visible fermentation. When you like the flavor, refrigerate them if you want.

Measure your salt (optional)

Bracken fern is as tasty eat as it is beautiful, but you need to take some special steps in cooking it to diminish its harmful properties. Once you do this, it is best to just simply cook these pretty things and enjoy their flavor, which is a combination of asparagus, almonds and kale. Truffle butter seemed like a natural choice as a flavoring -- regular butter and truffle salt is a good alternative. No truffle products? Just use the best butter you can afford and a nice fancy salt. Splurge! After all, you should only eat bracken a few times a year, so enjoy it!

Buttered Bracken Fern

Salt

truffle butter, butter

Trim the bracken fiddleheads to an even length. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt to make it taste like the sea. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Boil the bracken for 2 minutes, then plunge into the ice water. let them sit in the water for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Discard the water. Pat dry.

Heat half the truffle butter in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the fiddleheads for 4 to 5 minutes, flipping them from time to time. Sprinkle some salt over them. Turn off the heat and add the remaining butter. Swirl to coat the fiddleheads with the butter as it melts. Eat at once.

Hello, love this recipe.. i live in australia, but in my country indonesia,  we eat bracken often too, mostly stirfry, or steam. Thanks for extended information.

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Top 3 fiddleheads recipes from across the web

The most viewed fiddleheads recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Dried Fiddlehead Ferns / Gosari

Lactofermented Fiddlehead Fern Pick...

Buttered Bracken Fern

The most viewed fiddleheads recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine