I was lucky. Right when the pandemic hit I was able to sign up for this different type of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture organization), called Family Dinner in the Greater Boston area.
It allowed me to have fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish (all harvested locally) delivered to my door every Saturday. And unlike most CSAs I did not have to pay for monthly subscriptions or six-month subscriptions in advance. Family Dinner allows you to pay just one week in advance and you can change your weekly subscription order each week as you see fit. You can also skip a week or two if you desire.
This week’s subscription featured fiddleheads, described in Family Dinner’s newsletter as “curly fronds of a young fern, used in many Asian, Indian, and French cuisines. They have a slightly earthy or woody taste, like a second cousin of asparagus who did a semester abroad and came back with an attitude.” And the weekly newsletter also provided a recipe to use these greens: Spring Tart with Fiddleheads.
I followed the recipe and the result was a creamy quiche featuring the earthy flavor of fiddleheads. I served it along with my fish share, which featured fresh squid and halibut (more about those delicacies in a later post).
I rinsed and trimmed the fiddleheads.
I then fried the shallots until they were sweating and translucent.
I combined them, along with gruyere and parmesan cheese, in a bowl with eggs and milk. And then I poured them into a tart crust I prepared.
Here’s a link to the full recipe. It calls for baking it for about 25 minutes but I found that baking it for 35 minutes in my oven was perfect.
(All photos by Mark Micheli)
