First Fiddleheads of the year!

Yesterday, I stopped by a roadside car stand to buy my first feed of fiddleheads of the year. Some of you may not be familiar with fiddleheads, but they are a delicate fern that is local to New Brunswick. If you cut them off before they fern out, they are a local delicacy. Since they are the first of the short growing season, I paid $3. a pound. When they get plentiful, like next week, I bet I'll be able to buy them for $1.50 a pound. In three weeks or less, they'll be gone.


It turns out, I didn't cook supper last night, because I was going to our quilt guild's closing pot-luck supper. So my hubby cooked salmon and fiddleheads for himself and I enjoyed a very nice pot luck supper. Yippee, there were 2 fiddlehead dishes on the table. I tried them both. Yum.

So, tonite, we're having cream of fiddlehead soup. This recipe comes from Monica Washburn when she submitted it to our our Quilt Guild's year 2000 cookbook, "Put this on your Dresdin Plate" Too. which was a sequal to our first cookbook "Put this on your Dresdin Plate".

I'll share the recipe with you for those who are going out daily to get your feed of fiddleheads.

Fiddlehead Soup

1/2 cup chopped cooked fiddleheads
1/4 cup butter
1 tbsp chopped onion
2 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dry mustard
2 cups milk
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp salt.

Cook and chop fiddleheads. Dissolve chicken cubes in boiling water. Melt butter and saute onions until tender. Blend in flour, paprika, mustard and salt. Gradually stir in milk and chick bouillon water and cook over medium heat until it comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Add fiddleheads. I think I'll add a cubed potato to my soup.

Tomorrow night, with a small bbq'd steak, we'll have the rest of the fiddleheads, just steamed with lots of butter, salt and pepper.