I have sinned. Majorly. May is local food month, which I’ve been celebrating weekly at the San Francisco Ferry Building and Berkeley farmer’s markets. The growers have brought in some beautiful produce, such as sweet, juicy asparagus and German mountain spinach, which is local, despite its name. But this weekend, deterred by the rain, I went to Berkeley Bowl instead. I know, it was only a drizzle. But going to the farmer’s market at the end of May in northern California on a drizzly, gray day is just… wrong. Don’t you think? Berkeley Bowl’s a different sort of mecca, and they carry quite a bit of local foods, right? So off I went.
I returned with spring treasures: raspberries, blueberries, asparagus, even a couple of peaches and nectarines. I also bought fresh porcini mushroom stalks and fiddleheads. Having read about fiddleheads on Mighty Foods recently, I’ve been itching to find some and cook them up. I’ve read they taste somewhat asparagus-like, which is always a good thing. However, I had no idea they were harvested in New England. Oops. I proceeded to cook the fiddleheads with porcini stalks (possibly local), organic boneless skinless chicken thighs (Oregon), and Rustichella d’Abruzzo lemon fettuccine (Italy), thus far my favorite brand of overpriced definitely not locally produced pasta. I’ve been a bad, bad foodblogger.
But hey, if Pim can dis packaged organic food, I can cook a very un-local lunch during local food month. Well, just this once.
Guilty global fiddleheads with porcini stalks, chicken, and lemon fettuccine
1 pkg (250 gr.) lemon fettuccine from Italy, cooked, drained, and tossed with butter, with some cooking water reserved
butter
3 boneless, skinless chicken thighs from Oregon
1/4 a medium eggplant, chopped into 1 inch cubes
1/2 lb fiddleheads from New England, trimmed
several asparagus stalks, trimmed and chopped into longish 1.5 inch pieces
1/8 lb porcini stalks, halved lengthwise and sliced
3 small cloves purple garlic
a splash of Sherry from Spain
a grating of Laguiole cheese from France
– Heat enough butter (on medium heat) in a large enameled braising pan to cover the bottom of the pan. Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides.
– Brown the chicken well and place on a plate to drain. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces. Alternatively, you could do this the other way around. The chicken would probably brown faster.
– In the same pan, toss in the eggplant pieces and stir.
– When the eggplant is golden, add in the fiddleheads and asparagus. Cook for a minute and add in the porcini stalks and stir.
– Cook for a minute, then add in the chicken.
– Pour in a splash of Sherry and stir, carefully scraping up the browned bits. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the fiddleheads and asparagus are bright green and still crunchy.
– Correct the seasoning and toss with pasta, adding a bit of cooking water to moisten.
– Grate cheese on top and serve.
Serves 2
Tasting notes: The fiddleheads were refreshingly crunchy, with a contrasting texture provided by the little curled fern leaves comprising the fiddle’s head. They did taste somewhat like asparagus, but less sweet than really fresh asparagus. The porcini stalks were pleasantly porcini-like, which is to say they weren’t quite as porcini as they should have been. Seeing as they were sold capless, I presume they didn’t represent the best of the hunt. It might be fun to try this recipe with fiddleheads you’ve just picked and porcinis that your trusty pet pig (don’t you have one?) has just unearthed. Which only goes to show that local food often does taste better.
