Recipe - Steamed Fiddleheads With Horseradish Scallion Sauce

1 pound Fiddleheads; (available
; seasonally at
; specialty produce
; marketsand some
; supermarkets),
; cleaned
One half cup Plain yogurt
One half cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Fresh lemon juice; or to
taste
2 teaspoon Dijonstyle mustard
1 tablespoon Drained bottled horseradish;
or to taste
3 tablespoon Finely chopped scallion
green

In a steamer set over boiling water steam the fiddleheads for 5 minutes, or
until they are crisptender, transfer them with a slotted spoon to a bowl
of ice and cold water to stop the cooking, and transfer them to paper
towels to drain. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, the mayonnaise,
the lemon juice, the mustard, the horseradish, the scallion, and salt and
pepper to taste, whisking until the sauce is smooth, and serve the
fiddleheads topped with the sauce.

To clean freshpicked fiddleheads

Snap off the crisp, bright green fiddlehead tops from ostrich ferns,
leaving about 2 inches of stem attached. Rub off the dry brown casings by
hand or put the fiddleheads in a wire salad basket and whirl the basket
outdoors to remove the casings. Let the fiddleheads soak in a sink half
full of cold water, changing the water several times to remove any grit or
casing particles, and drain them. The fiddleheads keep, covered and
chilled, for 1 week.

Serves 4 to 6.

Gourmet May 1992

Converted by MC_Buster.

Converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.