Thai Fiddlehead Stir Fry

 It was already nearly the end of June when I decided to cook my way through the Bicentennial Cookbook. So I realized that some ingredients might be seasonal, and therefore, not readily available, in the six months and twelve days that I planned to attempt this cooking adventure. Sure enough, fiddlehead season had already passed us by. I did try to find frozen fiddleheads, with no luck. 

My husband and I love Thai food, but he is not fond of fiddleheads (me, I love 'em, can't get enough of 'em). So I decided to just use whatever vegetables we had on hand, and I will do a proper Thai Fiddlehead Stir Fry next spring. 

The thin strips of steak fry up very quickly, so I cooked all the veggies first and then set them aside to quickly cook the meat. It looks beautiful on a plate and tastes so good, you won't need to order out Thai ever again (altho please do, we want to support our local restaurants, especially in this pandemic!).

This is the 200th recipe in the cookbook. And yes, the cover of the book boasts 200 recipes. But by my count, I still have enough recipes to last till the end of the Bicentennial year. And I've already picked the grand finale recipe, which is going to be well worth the six months-twelve days wait, so don't miss it! 

Why am I choosing the Fiddlehead Stir Fry without fiddleheads, as my 200th recipe? Well, I think fiddleheads are one of the special seasonal Maine foods which people look forward to each year, just like blueberries (see Blue Ribbon Blueberry Pie blog, which was my 100th recipe) and apples and strawberries and potatoes. Yes, you can often obtain seasonal foods year-round, frozen or cold storage. But it's nothing like fresh, is it? Enjoying the bounty of Maine foods in-season helps us to appreciate the gifts of this good earth we live on, and tunes us in to the rhythms of nature and an appreciation for the different seasons we enjoy here in Maine. So you see, having tried this fabulous Thai recipe without fiddleheads gives me the joy of daydreaming, through the long winter, about cooking this recipe in the spring with fiddleheads!

*If you are enjoying this blog, or, better yet, if you have purchased the Maine Bicentennial Community Cookbook, and you enjoy the recipes and family stories in the cookbook, you may want to help the Cookbook to win the People's Choice Award at The Readable Feast People's Choice 2020 (tryinteract.com)  Do it right now, the contest ends Monday, December 7th!



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