Damp, Delicious Spring Treats

The Union Square Greenmarket smelled faintly like the forest floor. So many tender green sprouts with wet spring soil still clinging to everything.

On Saturday morning, Terhure Orchards from Salt Point, NY sold wild asparagus, thick and thin. Their long rows of choose-your-own asparagus reminded us of pencils rolling across a teacher's desk.

Sweet Berry Farms sold pints of fiddle head ferns ("tastes like spring!" as the sign said) and many vendors had coolers full of pungent ramps.

What are you making with all these tender treats?

Comments (6)

Eggs (from the greenmarket of course) scrambled with ramps, and served over steamed asparagus. A shave of parmesan on top, and...delicious.

What are ramps and what do I do with them?

Fiddlehead ferns are at my local farmers market, on the other side of the country. What do I do with those?

Mmm... fiddleheads. Wish I could find them here in LA. The only thing that needs to be done with them really is a quick steam or saute depending on how cooked you want them to be.

For ferns, heat up some olive oil and diced garlic until the garlic just turned golden, than drop the ferns in. season with salt.

I just looked for fiddlehead recipes on the internet, and came up with this one:

Marinated Fiddleheads
8 oz fiddleheads
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white balsamic or wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning or other flavored salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
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Boil cleaned fiddleheads for six minutes and drain. Meanwhile mix up the marinade stirring well. Put the fiddleheads into a clean lidded jar. Turn the jar to make sure all the fiddleheads are well-covered. Leave overnight in the refrigerator. Keeps for a week in the refrigerator.

It seemed like a lot of marinade for a 1/2 lb of fiddleheads, so I halved it. I steamed the fiddleheads for about five minutes, and at the last minute I added in some steamed asparagus as well (about another 1/2 lb). It's delicious! The fiddleheads have a strong taste and texture, so they don't need much added to them.

I think there was a discussion on AT kitchen last spring?