Fiddleheads steamed in lemon oil

4 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1 cup Water
2 tablespoons Lemon Oil
3 cups Fiddlehead Ferns, trimmed
And cleaned
¾ teaspoon Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper

Directions

Combine the water and lemon oil in a pot with a steamer insert. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Place the fiddleheads in the steamer basket, cover and steam until tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper. Divide among four plates and serve immediately.

Polk wrote: "It's just about fiddlehead fern time here in the Northeast and perhaps in other areas down the Mid Atlantic. Molly O'Neill in the Boston Globe today featured them. She wrote: ;Fiddlehead ferns epitomize vernal ephemera. Coiled as they are like tiny watch springs, fiddle heads are a sign: edible when tight and young, they become when fully unfurled unfit for human consumption." Fiddleheads are rare and fleeting and thus precious. And contentious.

Which is as it should be.'"

Posted by Bob Polk of Maine. Formatted by Cathy Harned.

Submitted By CATHY HARNED On 07-15-94 (1445)

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