fiddlehead fern tortellini with nettle pesto

If there’s one thing I can’t ever eat my fill of, it’s sugar. Oops, no, we talk about that all the time. What I meant to say, was pasta. Chewy, wonderful, homemade pasta. It is my absolute favorite.

Long long ago last month, back when there was still snow on the ground, I caught myself salivating at the thought of foraging for fiddlehead ferns. Well, now is the time, and there is no time like the present. Haste makes waste for good eating. And other such foodie proverbs.

I had the genius idea to stuff homemade pasta with garlic-buttered fiddleheads as I was on Mile 265 (approximately) of snowshoeing for the winter. Now snowshoeing is but a distant memory, as is this pasta dish. Thank goodness I still have tons of fiddleheads frozen from last year…

The past few weeks have been weeks of big change. I am trying out contacts for the first time. Ever. I am subsequently trying to push glasses up on my glasses-less nose about fifteen times per day. I just tried to do exactly that, thinking I’d act a bit facetious and then, oh so humorously, tell you about it. Turns out I actually am wearing glasses today. Moving on.

I got an iPhone. Dude, how long have I been waiting to Instagram my life away? About five weeks. I lie, it’s more like five months. Or a year. Or more. Moving on.

I decided that wiling away my evening hours reading a 1987 romance novel entitled “Strictly Business” was a good idea. Turns out when you’re a 1987 romance novel, you settle for one (1) passionate stolen/unwanted kiss, and a marriage proposal. After the Strictly Business debacle, I decided to stick with my modus operandi and read 1967′s “Episode in Rome,” by the forgotten Teri Lester. Part of an enticing Double Romance(!), the first sign of trouble was when the words Strictly business appeared on page 7. Not to be deterred, I finished the story off in a few hours, again settling for a kiss (this time on the forehead) and a marriage proposal. I wish I could say I won’t, but I’ll probably dig into “Sylvia’s Daughter” once I finish up with this post.

Had I found more nettles, I would have incorporated them into the pasta dough as well, because nettle pasta is tasty. But since they were only starting to shoot up last weekend, I found just enough to make a pesto.

Yes, by nettles I mean stinging nettles, those awful plants that make your skin itch if you touch them. When young, they can be picked and eaten no problem, and they are quite tasty. Just be sure to wear gloves while harvesting, and to blanch them before eating.

Fiddlehead Fern Tortellini with Nettle Pesto {recipe by myself}

Serves 2-4

Fiddlehead Fern Tortellini:

2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6-8 c. fresh fiddleheads, cleaned (brown chaff removed)

In a large frying pan, melt butter over low medium heat. When hot, add garlic and fiddleheads. Cook, stirring and flipping occasionally, ten to fifteen minutes. Set aside to cool. Note: some sources recommend blanching fiddleheads prior to sauteeing them, for safety’s sake. Do this if you are concerned about food safety (especially if you purchased fiddleheads rather than foraged for them).

1 c. flour
1/4 c. semolina flour
2 eggs
1 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt

In a large bowl, combine flours. Make a small well, cracking into it the 2 eggs, and adding the olive oil and salt. Mix by hand until the mixture comes together. Turn out onto a lightly-floured surface, and knead for five to ten minutes, until dough is smooth. If the dough is too dry, add a small amount of extra oil. If the dough is too moist, add some more all-purpose flour – depending on the day’s temperature and humidity, I have to alter my ingredient proportions slightly.

Let dough rest in the bowl, covered, for one hour. On a clean countertop, roll out a quarter of the dough at a time. Roll dough as thinly as possible (this is difficult). Alternately, use a pasta machine if you have one to roll your dough out extra thin (if you do this, you may need to cook an extra 2 c. fiddleheads or more). Using a 2 1/2″ biscuit cutter or glass, cut out dough rounds.

Not possessing a pasta machine, I gave each dough round a final roll with the rolling pin. Fill dough rounds with two to three fiddleheads, depending on size. Flip top half of dough over bottom half, and press to seal. Bring corners together, one over the other, and seal tightly. Repeat with remaining dough rounds, and with remaining quarters of dough, meanwhile bringing a salted pot of water to the boil.

Boil tortellini for two to three minutes – it won’t take long to cook the dough.

Nettle Pesto:

2 very tightly packed c. nettle leaves
Heaping 1/2 c. walnuts
Heaping 1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp olive oil (more if needed)
Salt, to taste

In a pot of boiling water, briefly blanch nettle leaves (no longer than 4-5 minutes). Set aside to drain and cool. Combine all ingredients except salt in a food processor, and pulse until homogenized. Add additional oil if mixture is too dry. Add salt to taste.

olive oil + candied meyer lemon madeleines

Have the Meyer lemons disappeared from your local grocery store? Maybe I still have access to them because they’re considered too culinarily exotic where I live, and so no one buys them. Or maybe they’re still abundantly for sale across the country, and I just know nothing. Regardless, I’m thankful for the continued opportunity to enjoy these darling gems.

I decided to candy Meyer lemon slices, which resulted in the decadent syrup you see draped suggestively across these madeleines. The syrup – oh, how lovely it is. Sweet, tart, floral, citrus, herby; all come together under this bold orange-yellow banner of deliciousness. The chopped-up candied slices were incorporated into a basic madeleine batter, along with enough olive oil to provide a punchy kick of flavor. If a bold and flavorful dessert (or snack… or breakfast) is what you’re looking for, these are your cakelets.

Next question. Have you ever had a mother-of-millions houseplant? No? Bear with me. Yes? Party on.

In your home, has it multiplied at a phenomenal rate, to the point that you worry it might take over the room in which it lives? Has the plant’s behavior come to annoy you so much that just the mention of its name sends a shiver down your spine? Do you wish you could do more to warn others about the dangers of letting this beast into your house? If you answered yes to one or more of the above, I bet that you and my mum would get along well; you have a common enemy. Hi Mum!

I on the other hand love my weird little mother-of-millions. She’s actually at most only been an approximate mother-of-two-to-three-dozen, and I think she’s cute. I was given a little slip of this plant back in high school (where has the time gone?) maybe nine years ago, and I have nursed it along through alternating stages of growth and decay. Until two months ago, though, I had never seen it try to flower.

I read somewhere that if you let your plant flower, it may die. But I mean, is it really possible to kill this plant? My mum would shake her head and respond vehemently in the negative. I’m not sure, but I’ve been waiting patiently now for many weeks, watching the flower buds grow larger and droopier. Finally, over the weekend, I noticed that the flowers had opened. Aren’t they sweet? There’s something so impermanent and special about a houseplant flowering that I couldn’t help but memorialize it here.

Final question. How fast can you eat these? Probably not as fast as me. Three at a time, dawg. Three at a time.

Olive Oil + Candied Meyer Lemon Madeleines {recipe by myself}

Makes 24

++Ingredients:++

1/2 c. unsalted butter + 1 tbsp for madeleine tins
3/4 c. flour + plus more for dusting tins
2 tbsp reserved candied Meyer lemon syrup, plus more for glazing
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. almonds
3/4 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 candied Meyer lemons (follow this recipe to candy your lemons – 2 Meyers to one regular lemon), chopped up into fine pieces

++Directions:++

Melt 1 tbsp of butter and brush into two regular-sized madeleine tins. Cool one minute, then sprinkle flour into each mold. Tap in each direction to evenly coat, then tap out extra. Set aside.

Melt butter in small bowl or saucepan with candied Meyer lemon syrup. Mix in sugar. Set aside, let cool.

In a food processor, grind almonds (note: I don’t blanche my almonds – I like them as is. If, however, you’d prefer blanched almonds, do that ahead of time). Add flour and baking powder, and process until mixed.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs and salt for three to five minutes until well-frothed. Whisk in half of flour mixture. Add the butter/lemon syrup mixture. Switch to a spatula, and fold in candied Meyer lemon pieces. Fold in the remaining flour.

Transfer batter into a pastry bag, making sure that the tip is large enough to allow almond chunks to pass through. Pipe batter into tins, making sure not to overfill: 2/3 to 3/4 full should be plenty. Alternatively, spoon batter into molds (my method of choice).

Chill tins in the fridge for two hours, or preferably in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bake tins for 10 – 16 minutes, depending on how cold (frozen) they got. Rotate tins once. My nonstick tin takes less time to bake than my tin tin: watch your madeleines bake carefully! When the edges turn golden brown, and the center bumps appear cooked (the change is noticeable if you watch them bake), remove pan from the oven. Check to make sure they are cooked through. Quickly invert onto a cooling rack, or pry out with a spoon or knife.

Dip madeleines in reserved candied Meyer lemon syrup, and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

raspberry + coconut cream sherbet

This melty frozen treat suffers from what one might call “lackofspringoutside-itis.” It’s a very serious condition, often afflicting those who want nothing more than to eat ice cream every evening while tending to their garden plot, as they contemplate how sunburnt they will get the next day whilst wearing their skimpy summery top.

Alas, skimpy summery tops are but a figment of my imagination at this point. Temperatures are beginning to heat up, and spring is just around the corner, but we’re not quite there yet. In town, tulips are sprouting and crocuses are in bloom, but out here in the woods, the ground is still looking suspiciously white.

At least I’m not in the Midwest, where they’re getting pummeled with snowfall upon snowfall (still).

Oh my gosh, do I spot something…. alive?! I guess word on the street is that when these plants at the upper left flower, which they are doing now, it means that darling little bearies are waking up from hibernation. Makes sense, given that I saw some bear tracks a couple weeks ago. Now I’m just waiting to come across these bears in the flesh – in the fur? - scavenging in the ditches alongside the roads. Cute.

However, last year’s fertile fern fronds are still a much more common sight than lively new growth. All in good time, I suppose. All in good time.

The upside to the slowly-melting snow is that I get to hike long exercisey distances during the day - along roads that I will soon be able to drive. I’ve been getting lucky on occasion, finding an abandoned moose antler that I then get to hoist over my shoulders and carry like the world’s most monetarily-precious child. Bingo!

As you may glean from the Classifieds section slipped effortlessly underneath this heavenly bowl of sherbet, we have been looking for a new place to live. A desire to downsize has consumed us, with the end goal of saving up oodles of cash so that we can roll around in it, and also buy something really expensive, such as nice mountain bikes or some property. Or my real goal, world domination, AKA travel.

In the meantime, how about some sherbet of sorts, made with a can of coconut cream and some raspberries? A squeeze of lemon juice, an extra jolt of sugar (if that’s your thing), and a couple egg whites, and this recipe is good to go. Just as quick as you can say “how long until we have to move again?”

Raspberry + Coconut Cream Sherbet {a recipe by myself}

++Ingredients:++

1 can coconut cream / cream of coconut (NOT coconut milk- check the Hispanic section of your grocery store)
6 oz frozen or fresh raspberries (I imagine most any other fruit would work equally well)
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Up to 2/3 c. sugar, as desired
Two egg whites
1/3 c. water
Dried coconut, for topping

++Directions:++

Honestly, I took the lazy route with this, simply letting everything churn about for ten minutes in my stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. The issue with this is that if your raspberries are frozen, the coconut cream will fail to dissolve into the raspberries and sugar. I didn’t have a problem with this, but if you do, process all ingredients together in a food processor.

If you have an issue with raw eggs, bring all ingredients except the eggs to a boil in a medium saucepan, then remove from heat and beat in the egg whites post-haste.

Once everything is combined to your liking, pour into a dish and freeze for at least four hours, preferably overnight. Serve topped with dried coconut.