Fiddlehead Mac and Cheese
I'm just going to start this blog by saying, I know that fiddleheads are an important part of New Brunswick culture and I know some people are weird about mac and cheese. I just had an idea and I had to see it through, what an amazing idea it was!
A few weeks ago, a neighbor gave me fiddleheads for watering her garden, I had never had a fiddlehead so they sat in the fridge and then when I got low on groceries, I thought "what can I make" and the idea came to me. After asking a few people if they thought it would be good, I decided to make it. Fiddleheads taste like asparagus and asparagus are good in almost everything. It's just a lot more wet than asparagus, so it will fall apart in the dish, but in a good way.
Fiddleheads are very important to cook properly, so I took extra precautions in boiling and sauteing. Mac and cheese is a no brainer, please don't use Kraft dinner, it will ruin this recipe.
Ingredients:
1-2 cups of fiddleheads with the stem removed, make sure they are properly cleaned
1/8 cup butter
3 cloves of garlic, minced
5 large handfuls of macaroni pasta
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups of milk (I only had one cup of milk, but added 1 cup of oat milk)
1.5 cups of shredded cheese (use whatever you have or like)
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne (omit if you don't like spice)
Panko bread crumbs
How to make it:
Boil fiddleheads for 10-15 minutes. Drain then add to a frying pan to sauté in 1/8 cups of butter and garlic on medium low. Let it sauté until the macaroni pasta is ready.
In a large pot, boil macaroni pasta.
In a medium pot, combine 1/4 cup butter and flour until a paste forms and bubbles.
Add the milk to the flour and butter, whisk until it thickens. You know it's ready when it's a little harder to mix.
Add cheese and cayenne. Keep sauce on low until pasta is ready.
Once the pasta is ready, drain the pasta, add the cheese sauce and fiddleheads into the same pot. Make sure everything is coated and add it to a medium baking dish.
Top the mac and cheese with panko crumbs and bake at 350 degrees until the mac and cheese is bubbling and the bread crumbs are golden.
Serve and enjoy
It's not a typical New Brunswick dish, but it's delicious and a must try!
All my love,
Samantha