LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 27 Ingredients • A couple of 10- to 11-inch brook trout • A generous fistful of ramps (about 12), leaves trimmed, bulbs sliced lengthwise (half will be diced, the other half sliced again crosswise) • A few handfuls of fiddleheads • Butter • Olive oil • ½ cup dry white wine • Parmigiano Reggiano • Blackening seasoning to taste • Seasonings to taste (salt, pepper, onion, garlic) Directions First things first. To get going, you will want to remove the brown papery "skin" around the fiddleheads and perform a quick blanch in boiling water for a minute or so, then put them immediately into an ice bath. Now prep your ramps. Clean them well and remove the root base and the middle maroonish-colored woody part of the stem between the bulb and leaves. Slice the bulbs lengthwise. Start with a couple of medium-sized brookies. Choose fish that are 10 to 11 inches. Clean and butterfly them. (is step is important, and although not difficult, it can take a little bit of effort to become comfortable doing it. A good YouTube search of butterflying trout will help immensely.) When done, you will have a completely boneless, whole, skin-on trout. I find a small, very sharp, flexible fillet knife works best for this. Brush the trout inside and out with melted butter. Season both sides liberally with the blackening blend. Set aside. Take the fiddleheads out of the ice bath and pat dry. Finely dice half of your ramp bulbs (about 6). Heat a few pats of butter and tablespoons of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Toss in the fiddleheads. Season with salt and pepper. Sauté a couple of minutes. Add the diced ramps. Cook another few minutes, until ramps are translucent and fiddleheads are tender. Remove from pan and reserve. In the same pan add another pat of butter and the sliced ramp bulbs. Cook just until the cut edges begin to caramelize. At this point, toss in the ramp leaves and cook till wilted. Add the reserved fiddlehead mixture to this pan. Add white wine to the ramps and fiddleheads. Turn heat to medium-high and reduce (about 5 minutes). As this begins to thicken, grate in some fresh Parmigiano Reggiano and toss. Turn off heat. Grab another pan and heat a little olive oil and butter over high heat until very hot. Lay the brookies in the pan starting at the tail in a nice smooth motion belly-down. (Turn on vent fans, because blackened seasoning will smoke a healthy amount.) Once a nice sear has developed on the belly side (about 4 minutes) gently flip and cook the other side. (Small brook trout cook very quickly.) Plate your ramps and fiddleheads, top off with a bit more Parmigiano, and lay the blackened brookies on top. Voila! is is an elegantly simple dish with an array of flavors and a minimal number of ingredients — 100% wild-sourced. Asparagus and the white parts of leeks could be substituted for the ramps and fiddleheads.

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