Fiddlehead Friday - Spring Fiddlehead Mania
Spring Fiddlehead Mania
Fiddlehead Cured Pork Belly
Product
3 – 10lb Pork bellies
1 box kosher salt
4 star anise
20 juniper berries
¼ cup ground coriander
¼ cup ground cumin
1 tbls ground cardamom
2 tbls crushed red chilli flakes
2 cups chopped fiddleheads
10 pounds butter
2 litres canola oil
Method
- Mix all ingredients except butter and oil.
- Cover the bellies with curing mix. Place in a perforated pan, cover and marinate for 2 days.
- After 2 days rinse off all the excess curing mix and pat dry with a towel.
- Place all butter and oil in 3 separate deep hotel pans. Cover with parchment and tin foil and braise for 4 hours.
- Take out of the oven and cool in at room temp for another 4 hours.
- Place bellies in 3 separate shallow hotel pans cover with saran wrap and put another shallow hotel on top and press for 12 hours.
Total Cooking & Prep Time
3 days
Fiddlehead Pesto
Product
1 cup hazelnuts
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
2 cups fiddleheads
½ cup to 1 cup olive oil
15 cloves roasted garlic
½ cup shaved parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method
- Toast hazelnuts for 10 minutes. Boil sugar and water and coat the hazelnuts and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Cool hazelnuts and combine all ingredients in blender except for the oil.
- Add have the oil half at a time and pulse to leave a little texture in the pesto.
Total Cooking & Prep Time
30 minutes
Fiddlehead Gnocchi
Product
30 yukon gold potatoes
5 cups chopped fiddleheads
5 cups flour
10 eggs
1 cup Salt
¼ cup canola oil
1 cup of butter
Method
- Peel and large dice the potatoes and place a ½ cup of salt in water covering the potatoes.
- When potatoes are fork tender strain and dry for 10 minutes.
- Pass through a ricer.
- On a wooden cutting board place potatoes make a little hole in and place eggs, flour and fiddleheads. Mix well and add some flour if is not the right dough consistency
- Have a boiling pot of water with the rest of the salt in it ready for blanching the gnocchi. Cut into half inch pieces and place in boiling water, cook until floating and remove and place and oiled baking sheet.
- When going to plate in 3 large sauté pans add butter evenly between them saute the gnocchi till golden brown.
Total Cooking & Prep Time
1 hour & 20 minutes
Beet Puree
Product
8 red beets
5 shallots
3 tbls honey
1 litre 35% cream
½ cup sherry vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Peel and rough chop beets. Place all ingredients in a saucepot bring to a boil and cook until the beets are fork tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
- Puree and pass through a china cap
Total Cooking & Prep Time
40 minutes
Fiddlehead Hollandaise
Product
2 ½ cup finely chopped fiddleheads
3 pounds butter
1 bottle chardonnay
15 peppercorns
3 bay leafs
3 chopped shallots
8 sprigs thyme
Juice and zest of one lemon
Tabasco
Worchester
6 egg yolks
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
- Put wine, peppercorns, thyme, shallots, bay leafs, and 1 cup of the fiddleheads in a saucepot reduce by 2/3’s
- Stain ingredients and reserve.
- Melt butter and skim some of the white milk fat off the butter.
- In a metal bowl whisk eggs and reduction together over a double boiler. Slowly incorporate melted butter until a thick sauce is formed.
- Add Tabasco, Worchester sauce lemon juice, zest and seasonings and the last 1 ½ cups of chopped fiddleheads.
Cooking & Prep Time
45 minutes
Garnishes
6 pounds of Amber Turnips
6 Pounds of White Carrots
4 pounds of Fiddleheads
All Sauted in butter
100 grams of bulls blood micro greens
Fiddleheads are provided by Nor Cliff Farms
Carrots, white carrots, and bulls blood micro greens provided
by Cookstown Greens
