Fiddleheads are Back!

They look kind of creepy and grow in swamps, but man are they tasty. Each year a sure sign that spring has sprung is the appearance of fiddleheads at my local farmer's market. For the uninitiated, fiddleheads are the uncurled fronds of a young ostrich fern. I was first introduced to them in Eustis, Maine, near my father-in-law's hunting cabin several years ago and have been anxiously awaiting them each spring ever since. I awoke one morning in Eustis to a crew of local folks wandering around the cabin, collecting buckets and buckets of fiddleheads from around the property to sell or freeze for the winter. I need to get back up there one of these years during fiddlehead season to enlist the locals and make a killing - they go for $8.99 a pound at Tendercrop!

To me, the taste of fiddleheads resembles that of asparagus, but I've heard others compare them to broccoli, green beans and even grass. I've recently found some interesting fiddlehead recipes including this one for a fiddlehead and morel risotto that I plan to try this season: http://gonewengland.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ/Ya&zTi=1&sdn=gonewengland&cdn=travel&tm=23&gps=166_314_788_416&f=10&tt=14&bt=1&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.yankeemagazine.com/recipes/search/onerecipe.php%3Fnumber%3D14842. I've heard fiddleheads are great with cream sauces, cheese, tomato sauces, and garlic, but to me the fiddlehead season is so fleeting that I have a hard time experimenting. You never know when you'll be eating your last fiddlehead for 11 months.

I won't try the fancy recipe until I have had them at least a few times to savor their true taste. Here is my recommendation for a straightforward and delicious fiddlehead preparation.

Wash your fiddleheads thoroughly in running water. Add fiddleheads to rapidly boiling water for 4 minutes, then strain. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add blanched fiddleheads to the skillet and cook for another 5-7 minutes more, until they are tender but still bright green and have some crispness left. Season with a little butter, kosher salt, and pepper to taste. If you want to get real crazy, add a splash of vinegar or lemon juice.

Honey of a Ham

Easter is a fun holiday. It doesn't come with all the pressure of the "Big Three" (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve) but it still has a high degree of festivity, with the giving of small gifts, plenty of candy, and even a giant magical bunny that breaks into your house and hides all your eggs. Now that I think about it, that last example is actually kinda creepy and I wonder how much alcohol was consumed before someone came up with THAT idea. I digress....

I have some very fond memories of Easter. When I was little we had the "real" Easter bunny come to visit me at my aunt's house to deliver balloons and candy. One year my mom actually secured a paw print from Mr. Bunny himself to prove he was real when I started asking too many questions. And to this very day my grandmother gives me and all my cousins a plastic egg with our names taped to it written in her cursive on notebook paper, with cash inside. We have to give the eggs back at the end of the day because she reuses them every year, which I get such a kick out of; she is a like a drill sergeant making sure she gets her empty eggs back so she can store them away for the following Easter and repeat the tradition.

This year, for the second year in a row, we got a local ham from Tendercrop Farm in Newbury. We actually got two hams, the second one from Trader Joe's, because A) we had a big crowd B) my family likes to eat and C) everyone likes leftover ham. We ate the Tendercrop ham for Easter Brunch and the Trader Joe's ham was used for leftovers and soup. Now, Trader Joe's generally has some good products, but the TJ's ham couldn't touch the Tendercrop ham in flavor and texture. It was actually quite bad in comparison, but I don't know if it was really a bad ham, or just bad next to the Tendercrop ham. The Tendercrop ham was OUTSTANDING and got rave reviews even among my guests that usually don't touch the stuff. I used the following glaze recipe from Gourmet's April 2009 issue (still mourning the death of Gourmet and go through the old issues frequently in memoriam). I forgot to take a picture of the ham (MUST get better about that) so the hammy photo is also courtesy of them. This glaze is delish - not too sweet, not too overpowering, and compliments the smokey, hammy (my new word) flavor quite well. Even if you can't get to Tendercrop for your next ham, throw the red foil package of sugary glaze away and try this one.

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chopped thyme
1 (12-to 14-pounds) boneless or semiboneless fully cooked ham at room temperature 1 hour
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup mild honey
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Melt butter with thyme and let stand until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in lower third.
Peel off and discard any rind or skin from ham, leaving 1/4 inch of fat on ham. Score fat on top of ham in a crosshatch pattern without cutting into meat. Put ham on a rack in a large roasting pan. Cover ham with parchment paper, then cover roasting pan with foil. Bake 1 3/4 hours.
Meanwhile, boil vinegar in a small saucepan until reduced to about 1 tablespoon. Remove from heat and whisk in honey, Worcestershire sauce, and thyme butter. Let honey glaze stand until ham has baked 1 3/4 hours.
Discard foil and parchment from ham. If there is no liquid in roasting pan, add 1 cup water (liquid will prevent glaze from burning in pan). Brush ham with half of honey glaze, then bake, uncovered, 30 minutes.
Brush with remaining glaze and bake until glaze is deep golden-brown and ham is heated through, about 30 minutes more.

Barley "Risotto" with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Lovely. The weather was beautiful all week while I was stuck inside working, and now that the weekend is here we have cold, rainy, gray weather. I'm curled up on my daybed in our office, next to a very cute and furry little animal, watching the rain come down and dreaming of summer.

This hearty vegetarian "risotto" is perfect for a day like today and tastes A LOT better than it looks. The pecorino romano cheese added at the end makes it taste perfectly decadent, but it is really quite healthy. Leftovers are great - I actually think it tastes better after it has set a bit.

Ingredients

1 bunch asparagus (preferably thin asparagus)

1 box (give or take) vegetable or chicken broth - I like Kitchen Basics or Trader Joe's Organic

1 bunch scallions

2 cups sliced mushrooms - Use whatever kind you like, sliced button mushrooms, cremini, or shitake all work

2 tablespoons olive oil

~1/4 cup of pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese

1 cup barley

Slice the asparagus thinly and diagonally and blanch in boiling water for 3 minutes or so. Drain and set aside. Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and saute sliced scallions and mushrooms until mushrooms have given off their liquid and are soft - about 7 minutes. Add the barley to the saute pan and stir to combine with the scallion/mushroom mixture. Add 1 cup of vegetable broth to start, stirring frequently until the liquid is mostly absorbed. Continue to add broth, about a cup at a time, until the barley is mostly tender, about 30 minutes. Add blanched asparagus and continue to stir/add broth until the barley is fully cooked, about 15 minutes more. Add cheese and stir to combine.

Fun With Quinoa

Quinoa is my latest obsession. Not only is it very nutritious, but it is so easy to make and it keeps well. Lately I have been making a big batch of quinoa on Sunday, then adding different mix-ins each day during the week for lunch. Quinoa is so versatile that I haven't found a combination yet that didn't work. Here are some of my favorites:

• Diced red bell pepper, diced onion, diced pitted kalamata olives, fat free feta cheese crumbles, olive oil, salt and pepper


• Leftover roasted mushrooms, roasted red peppers, and roasted red onions from dinner the night before


• Leftover roasted chicken with baby spinach and shaved shallots


• A can of drained and rinsed organic black beans, corn kernels, diced red onion and diced jalapeno


• Halved grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil


• Grilled boneless skinless chicken breast with Cajun rub, can of drained organic kidney beans, diced yellow onion


• Cooked green beans and boiled fingerling potatoes from dinner the night before with some water-packed tuna, olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper


• A can of organic lentils with diced red bell peppers and dice yellow onion

So easy and quick for hectic workdays - I love the time savings of cooking up a big batch all at once, and the fact that it tastes great mixed with just about anything you have laying around in the fridge or pantry.

A Little Sparkle for Your Celebrations

A lot of entertainment magazines, blogs, and websites recommend mixing up a batch of a signature cocktail for your gatherings. When I consider going that route I can never get past these two challenges:

1. How do I find a drink that will appeal to everyone? Personally, I think I'd be hard pressed to find a cocktail that would appeal to even 75 percent of my guests at any given event. Most people's taste in cocktails are pretty divided - you either like the sweet "girly" drinks, stiff savory drinks, or you are in the minority that can swing both ways.

2. How to I balance my booze hounds with my sorta-teetotalers? Again, everyone has a different level of personal taste (and tolerance!) for the alcohol content in their cocktails. Too strong for a few is too weak for many...at least among my circle of friends :-)

So, my latest party trick has been a Mimosa Bar. So easy - I just set up an ice bucket and tray with various Champagne accompaniments that guests can use to customize their perfect Champagne cocktail. It has been a hit (even with the guys!).

Here are some tips/flavor combinations to try:

• The classic mimosa is Champagne and orange juice, but Champagne can be pricey. So, since it is being mixed with something, try lower priced Prosecco or Cava. You can find great Prossecos and Cavas in the 10-15 dollar range vs. Korbel at the same price point just to get the Champagne label. Of course, when using a cheaper sparkler, good quality (ideally fresh squeezed or Odwalla as a substitute) OJ is a must. Cava is my sparkler of choice so I will use that in the rest of my examples, but Champagne or Prosecco can be substituted.


• Cava/other fruit juice combinations are just as delightful as orange juice and feel less "brunch" like. Add peach juice to make a Bellini. Pomegranate or cranberry juice are particularly festive around Christmas, especially when garnished with fresh pomegranate seeds or a sugared cranberry. Peach juice can usually be found in the Mexican section of most supermarkets under the Goya brand, and I prefer the R.W. Knudsen brand of unsweetened pomegranate and cranberry juices.


• Add Cava to a champagne flute containing a sugar cube that has been sprinkled with bitters to make a classic "Champagne" cocktail.


• Cava with lemocello makes a fun summer sparkler.


• Cava plus Creme de Cassis makes a sunset-hued Kir Royal.


• Decant your juices and mixers into nice glass or ceramic pitchers to make a pretty display. No one cares to see your plastic Tropicana container :-)
  
• Have plenty of plain juice on hand that people can drink from champagne glasses so even the designated drivers can get into the festive spirit.
  

No one can deny that a little bubbly adds a lot of festivity and a classy touch to just about any occasion!

Time to Sign up for CSA!

Spring seems to have sprung a little early this year. Perhaps the wonderful weather we enjoyed during the past week is Mother Nature's way of making amends for the unending rain she's been unleashing on us lately. If so, I'd like to give her a high-five for giving us a short reprieve from the torrential downpours (who knew New England had a Monsoon season?). With spring either sort of upon us, or at least just around the corner, it's time to sign up for your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program.

For a reminder on how CSA programs generally work, see this previous post: http://christinenurnberger.blogspot.com/2009/06/community-supported-agriculture-csa.html

Last year we participated in the CSA program at Arrowhead Farms in Newburyport and couldn't have been more pleased. Each week (pick up was available Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon) I'd head down the street to the farm and there would be a bulletin board posting all the veggies you could select for the week's share. The produce was amazing, and the amount of veggies we got was generally too much for two people to eat, so our friends and family got part of the take as we gave away tomatoes, ears of corn, squash, greens etc. I think just about everyone who knows me got a squash last fall.

In addition to picking up the food, I picked up an education as well. The farmer, Dick Chase - super nice guy, was almost always there to tell me about the week's adventures in getting the food from the dirt to my tote bag, what was growing well/what wasn't and why, and to offer suggestions for how to prepare some of the more unique veggies that I hadn't cooked with before (kholrabi anyone?). He's also share the heritage of heirloom vegetables and fruits, local, and farm history. Going to the farm, spending time picking out my veggies and planning meals around them actually became one of the highlights of my week. Please save the comments on how that reflects on what an exciting life I lead ;-) The cost was $575 for a full share, which was way too much food for us, so we'll be signing up for a half share at $350 this year. Unless you are 100% vegetarian, you'll likely have more than enough veggies for the week.

Many of you have voiced interest in CSA programs but haven't been able to find them in your area. This website enables you to put in your zip code and locates farms with CSA programs nearby: http://www.localharvest.org/

For those of you in the Woburn vicinity, check out this one:

http://busafarm.com/BusaFarmCSA/

If you have any questions let me know!