Salmon with Buttered Fiddleheads

From the garden

• 1 lb fiddleheads, scales rubbed off, stems trimmed short
• 2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

From the pantry

• 4 pieces salmon fillets · about 6 oz each, skin on
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil · for searing the salmon
• 1 lemon · half juiced, half cut into wedges
• salt · to taste
• black pepper

1. Rub the thin papery brown scales off each fiddlehead under cold running water, trim the stem to about an inch, and wash through two more changes of water. Keep only smooth stalks carrying a deep U-shaped groove down the inner face; anything woolly or fuzzy is a different fern and is not food, so throw out every doubtful coil rather than sorting a mixed handful later.
2. Boil the fiddleheads in a large pot of well salted water for a full 15 minutes, then drain them in the sink and pour the cooking water away. This is the whole safety of the crop and it is not optional: a hot pan is no substitute for a boiling pot, and raw, briefly blanched or merely sauteed fiddleheads have caused documented outbreaks of violent nausea, vomiting and cramps within hours.
3. Pat the salmon dry and season it on both sides. Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet over medium-high, lay the fillets in skin side down, and leave them undisturbed 5 minutes, until the skin releases from the pan and crisps. Turn and give them 2 to 3 minutes more, then lift onto warm plates.
4. Wipe the pan, drop in the butter over medium heat, and cook it swirling until it foams, smells nutty and the solids on the bottom turn a light brown, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and let it sizzle 30 seconds without coloring.
5. Tip the drained fiddleheads into the brown butter and toss 2 to 3 minutes, until glossy and hot through. Finish off the heat with the lemon juice, the parsley, salt and pepper.
6. Spoon the fiddleheads alongside the salmon with a lemon wedge each. Keep the helping to a modest side of the plate, because fiddleheads are a two-week spring treat rather than a bowlful green.