Fiddleheads are real... and Stop n Shop has them!

I have been slightly obsessed with Fiddleheads for some time now. I read about them years ago, that they were a unique veggie in the upper New England area only available for a short time seasonally. Bummer.

sFast forward to planning our wedding last year. I wanted to somehow incorporate the Fiddleheads in the bouquets for my girl since I was planning on making all 11 of them (yes, I had 10 bridesmaids), plus 3 corsages (mom, mom and grandma). 

Well, I didn't end up using real ones for a few reasons:
1. I was not making a special road trip up to Maine that close to the wedding  to try to find if these little veggie creatures exist
2. November would have been out of season anyway
3. Hard to work with once they are plucked (my assumption?)
4. And the obvious, did they really exist? I had only ever seen them on the internet, and you know how people can make magic with Photoshop these days. 

So I did the next best thing... I made/baked them with clay but added them to the groomsmens boutonnieres. REALLY easy and we thought they came out pretty neat!!

Fast forward to our honeymoon in Bali. One morning we decided to walk around and explore the beyond-words-resort we stayed at in Bali, Komaneka, and guess what we stumbled upon.... REAL FIDDLEHEADS. I gasped and shreiked and pointed which nearly gave Brendan his first heart attack. They were epic. They were large. They were there. They were real. I couldn't believe it. As much as I was dying to snip off a few and try them, I didn't but would have died a happy woman having just seen them in person with Brendan on our honeymoon in beautiful Bali. Perfect.

Well, the story gets better. While we were getting ready to head to my parents house for a grand Memorial Day bbq, I really wanted to grill up a dish I love - cauliflower, onions, carrots, mushrooms (optional) and small potatoes with chives, garlic chunks and (vegan) butter, so we stopped at Stop and Shop (in Setauket). And there in a tiny rectangle basket near the broccolini, there they were.... fiddleheads... in various colors of green, in all their cute twirly swirly glory! AGAIN, nearly gave Brendan a heart attack when I started yelling in the middle of the produce section.

Here they were though, within arms-reach. I was incredibly excited yet so frightened for some reason. I grabbed them, eeeek, threw a few in a bag and left with no plan in mind. I didn't want them to disappoint me in taste, smell or texture... they had to be perfect; it could have been the greatest let down. 

So instead of overthinking it, I just ended up adding them to the already yummy veggie mix, and let's face it, you can't go wrong with a bbq, garlic and some type of flavorful coating (EVOO, butter, etc).

 [hesitate before taking the first bite]

D E L I C I O U S  S U C C E S S! And as far as cook-time, they didn't seem too flimsy or crunchy. Beginners luck?

More than anything, I wanted to leave it at that; never buy/try them again. That is, until I saw them again at a different S+S location (vets highway on Broadway), I proudly grabbed a handful.

So currently, they were starring at me through the fridge door. If anyone has any suggestions on recipes (roasting, baking, sauteeing, etc), please leave a comment.