Hey, do my work for me!

I cannot get fiddleheads.  You live in the far northeast of the American continent and can go pick them in the woods.  So do it!

Here is my starting point for fiddlehead ravioli with lobster sauce.  (To me that is the utmost expression of where I come from mixed with who I now am, but I can’t make it. )  I think frozen fiddleheads would be equally as good if you can find them.

The filling I would make by cleaning and boiling fiddleheads until tender.  For 200 g of fiddleheads I would add 60 g of butter, a good pinch of ground cumin and salt to taste.  This I would blend or grind until fine, then refrigerate to firm up.  You need the butter to make it solid enough to pile up but then turn creamy when it warms up.

I’d make or buy egg pasta, roll out very thin, then spoon tiny piles of filling onto it about2 inches apart.  Dampen the pasta surface and top with another sheet of pasta, pressing with your fingers to eliminate air.  Cut them out however you like.  Let them sit on a clean kitchen towel for a few moments, or put them back in the fridge if you want to cook them later.

They should be cooked in simmering salted water until they float, then carefully removed with a slotted instrument.

Lobster sauce is almost impossible to dream of, since lobster is not very available and when it is costs about Euro 56 a kilo or $30 per pound.  But, big sigh, let’s go.

Melt about 30 g or one ounce of butter in a frying pan and to it add 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest.  Add about 125ml or 1/2 cup heavy cream and bring it to a simmer.  Add about 100 g or 3.5 ounces diced lobster meat and 2-3 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice. Taste for salt and correct.  Stir very well as it thickens.  Toss the drained ravioli into it for a minute.  Serve blazing hot with grated Parmigiano.

I’m imagining this filling being creamy and melting into the mouth when bitten into, sort of like chicken Kiev.

So who’s game to do the test kitchen version of this?  You can just note down alterations and additions as you decide they are necessary and comment on what you think of the dish.  You could be like that Christopher fellow I read about who tests and compares 12 recipes for mashed potatoes.

Come on, it’ll be fun!