Small Batch Pickled Fiddleheads Recipes

PICKLED FIDDDLEHEADS

Steps:

• Trim the browned ends off each fiddlehead. Discard any that are mushy or crushed. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it well. Boil the cleaned fiddleheads for 2 minutes, then plunge them into a bowl of ice water.
• Dissolve the 1/4 cup of salt in the quart of water. Fill a glass jar (I use a Mason quart jar) 3/4 of the way up with fiddleheads, which should be the whole pound. If not, use more jars and brine. Cover the fiddleheads with the brine by about an inch. Weigh them down. I use a narrow jelly jar set into the larger wide-mouth Mason jar, but a plastic bag filled with brine works well, as might a clean rock.
• Keep the jars in a cool, darkish place away from direct sunlight, which can rob the fiddleheads of their color. Let them ferment for at least a week, and up to 2 weeks. You might notice a little mold on the top of the brine: This is perfectly OK, just skim it off.
• When the fiddleheads taste crunchy and tangy, which I noticed after about 10 days, you are ready to store them. I fill pint jars with the spices -- split 50-50 -- and then repack them with fiddleheads. Pour over the brine from the original jars and screw on lids. Keep in the fridge indefinitely, although they will get tangier as time goes by.

CRUNCHY PICKLED FIDDLEHEAD FERNS

Steps:

• Bring the 4 cups water and salt to a boil, then remove from the heat and add the vinegar. This is your pickling liquid-reserve it until needed.
• Bring the 1.5 gallons of water to a rolling boil. Add the fiddlehead ferns to the pot, then cook for exactly 1.5 minutes (90 seconds) covering the pot to increase the heat, stirring the fiddles occasionally to ensure even blanching. Immediately remove the fiddleheads to drain and stop their cooking.
• Pack pint jars full of the still-hot fiddleheads, placing a piece of lemon zest, a clove of garlic, and a sprig or two of thyme in each jar (or whatever flavorings you're using).
• Reheat the pickle liquid to rolling boil in small pot and pour into the jars, covering all of the fiddleheads, up to the very top of the jar. Screw on the lids and and turn the jars upside down. Leave the jars to cool, for a few hours like this.
• After the jars are completely cool, inspect the jars, you should find they've formed seals, just as if you were to use a water bath canner, but without the excess heat and time that would make them soft. Voila! Crisp pickled fiddleheads.
• Look over the jars carefully to make sure they've all formed seals. Refrigerate any that haven't sealed.

SMALL-BATCH PICKLED FIDDLEHEADS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. While you're waiting on the water, rinse the fiddleheads well in a large bowl of cold water, rubbing away any brown scaly bits. Rinse again and trim the stems.
• Add the fiddleheads to the pot of boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. Drain and rinse well with cold water.
• In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, combine the vinegar, water and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring periodically. Simmer for 2-3 minutes, or until the salt is completely dissolved, then remove from the heat.
• Place 2 sterilized 250mL jars on a clean tea towel. Divide the pickling spice and garlic cloves between the two jars. Pack in the fiddleheads as tightly as you can, then cover with the hot pickling brine. Cover with sterilized lids and tighten to finger-tight.
• At this point, the jars can be processed in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes and stored for up to a year in a cool, dark spot, or placed in the fridge and eaten within a month. For best results, let the pickles age for at least a week before cracking open.