1 1/2 heads romaine, clean and dry and cut into bite-sized pieces

6 slices bacon, preferably Vermont Smoke & Cure, or other good-quality

Olive oil

1 pt. grape tomatoes, cut in half

3/4 lb. fiddlehead ferns, brown ends trimmed, soaked in 1/2 water, 1/2 white vinegar for 1/2 hour

6 or 8 whole cloves of garlic, with peel

1/2 c. Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen or Bonneview Mossend Blue (Blue Cheese)

 

Place the lettuce on large dinner plates and put aside.  Cook the bacon until crisp.  Use a fork to remove from pan, and place on paper towel to remove extra fat.  Keep pan over medium heat, add tomatoes, fiddleheads, and garlic cloves with a splash of olive oil and sprinkle of kosher salt, and cook until fiddleheads are crisp tender.  (You can do this on the stovetop, or – as I did – in the oven at about 400 degrees.)  Add  tomato-fiddlehead mixture to lettuce, being sure to scrape/spoon out any juices in pan.  If desired (as I did), peel garlic cloves and add to plate.  Crumble bacon over top, add crumbled blue cheese, and serve.