Daily Unadventures in Cooking » Fennel

Tomato and Fennel Soup

katerina — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:01:10 +0000

Here is another adult-oriented tomato soup recipe for the colder weather. Rather than warm Indian spices and cashews, this tomato soup is inspired by the south of France. The soup has subtle flavours of fennel and lavender and is finished with whipping cream and fresh tarragon.

Try serving this soup with a grilled sandwich of brie and apples. If you have fresh tomatoes feel free to substitute for the canned whole tomatoes the recipe calls for, just make sure they are skinned first.

Pork Belly Lettuce Wraps with an Apple and Fennel Salad

katerina — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:30:25 +0000

Pork belly, if cooked just right, has an inherent balance to it. A textural balance. A crispy exterior with a tongue-tender interior creates a lovely symmetry for the palate. But unfortunately, it is also more than half fat and very decadent.

Now, try pork belly paired with light flavors. It is no longer just texturally balanced but something different entirely. These pork belly lettuce wraps are topped with a sweet fennel and apple salad with an earthy miso dressing. This makes a sexy and inviting appetizer, or have several as a main course.

Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs Recipe with Fennel, Olives and Lemon

katerina — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 22:23:00 +0000

After reading several rave reviews of Thomas Keller’s new book Ad Hoc at Home, I was trying to resists until Christmas but when I saw it for sale at Costco, I snatched it up.

I took Ad Hoc home, curled up on the couch and flipped through it. It certainly is a satisfying read, and one where I feel like I am learning but that the food is still simple enough to be approachable. You see Keller is famous for his work on The French Laundry and Bouchon, which don’t fall into my rustic, simple, home cooking philosophy. But Ad Hoc does.

I had a few friends coming over for dinner so I decided to try this braised chicken recipe on them. I loved the sound of the extra crispy skin, and it seemed like something which you could make partially ahead. The chicken was certainly delicious, perfectly crispy but still moist and tender. The sauce with the fennel and olives was light and flavourful. But what I liked most was the technique I learned while cooking this dish. I think there will be variations of braised but crispy chicken in my future, and yours.

Oh, and the recipe for Pork Belly? We have a date.

Crispy Braised Chicken Thighs Recipe with Fennel, Olives and Lemon
(serves 3-6)
Adapted from Ad Hoc at Home, full recipe available here.

2 small fennel bulbs
6 chicken thighs, bone-in & skin on
salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 onion, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 green olives such as Cerignola
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
the zest of one lemon
1 bay leaf
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
a handful fresh parsley leafs

Preheat oven to 375F. Set a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet. Cut off the fennel stalks and discard the fronds. Trim off the bottom and cut the fennel in quarters. Core the fennel. Remove the layers of the fennel and chop into 1/2″ thin slices.

Pat chicken dry and sprinkle with salt. Heat a large oven-proof skillet to medium high heat and add canola oil. Add thighs skin side down and cook until lightly browned, about 5-10 minutes. Flip chicken and cook for another minute. Remove chicken from the pan and place on prepared cooling rack.

Reduce heat to medium low and pour off excess oil, you only need a teaspoon. Add onion and saute for 1 minute. Add garlic and continue sweating, stirring regularly until onion is translucent, about 5 more minutes. Add fennel to the pan and turn heat back up to medium. Stirring frequently cook until fennel is tender but still has a bite. About 10-15 minutes.

Add olive, red pepper flakes, bay leaf and zest and cook for 1 minute. Add wine and simmer for two minutes to reduce. Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Nestle chicken back into the pan so it is sitting on top of fennel skin side up, and just 1/4 submerged.

Put pan in oven and back until chicken is cooked through 20-25 minutes. Give the chicken a baste with the juices, turn on the broiler, and while watching broil for an extra minute or two to get the skin extra crispy and browned. Remove thyme sprigs, stir in parsley and serve.

Grilled Fennel with Balsamic Recipe

katerina — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:12:00 +0000

Fennel has just started appearing at our farmers markets and I am thrilled because I have really enjoyed all of the fennel recipes I have tried before, such as braised, roasted and thrown in risottos. I find a lot of people don’t like fennel because of the anise flavour. I am not a big fan of anise either but when cooked fennel becomes milder and sweeter.

Because it’s summer, and we are trying to maximize our use of the barbecue I figured it was a perfect opportunity to try grilled fennel. Fennel is lovely grilled because it retains some of it’s crunch but also develops that pleasant sweetness which I chose to enhance with the balsamic. Grilled Fennel really couldn’t be easier, and when I do it again I will make enough for leftovers because I bet the grilled fennel would be delicious in a roasted vegetable sandwich or in a salad.

Light Salmon and Fennel Chowder Recipe

katerina — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:39:00 +0000

This is what you should make if you find a piece of salmon in the back of your fridge that you didn’t label and are not so sure about. It is sad and past it’s sashimi prime but you don’t want to throw it away so disguise that sucker in some soup and it will be totally yummy.

Now, I call this light because I didn’t add cream. However while reheating leftovers J added a tablespoon to his bowl and said it made the whole thing absolutely phenomenal. That might be worth it, but I guess I will have to make more to find out. Which, by the way I will. This based on a recipe from Kitchen Parade.

Cream-less Salmon, Potato and Corn Chowder
(serves 4)

750ml chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 fennel bulb, diced, fronds reserved
1 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 small potatoes, medium dice
1 cob of corn
2 salmon steaks, boned and chopped into half inch pieces
1T minced parsley
1/4C cream (optional)

Throw the olive oil and vegetables in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat with a healthy pinch of salt and cook stirring well until fragrant. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes then check and correct for seasoning. Stir in the salmon until just cooked through. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and the cream if using and check for seasoning again. Garnish with the fennel fronds.

Tags: Soup, Comfort Food, Vegetables, Salmon

Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes and Sage Recipe

katerina — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 06:48:00 +0000

It was a very last minute decision to go out for beers this evening and that was because we suddenly realized dinner wasn’t going to be until really late. In the early evening we made an appointment to buy some gravel. We are working on a sitting area in our yard and we need some gravel for drainage.

Have you ever shoveled gravel? Like seriously, could there be anything heavier? After 30 minutes of heavy lifting it was almost 8 and I was exhausted but I had planned an elaborate dinner (shocked, I know) and had to follow it through. Luckily, after bootstrapping it, it wasn’t that much work. The pork was in the oven and the risotto was just a stir every minute or two. J even kept me company by making a fire, pouring some wine and setting me up a movie to watch while I nurtured the risotto. I love how risotto requires an open bottle of white wine, and well, once it is open…

By Monday the meat choices here on the island are pretty pathetic so I was unsure what to make. We had used almost everything we bought on Saturday except for the fennel bulb and a large beef roast which is still defrosting. But after yesterday’s beet greens I wanted to make another Marcella recipe since I always learn something. This morning flipping through one of her books I found several pork chop recipes; I stuck on these because pork chops seem to be something which is always readily available here. (Maybe it is a true stereotype that seniors like pork chops?) When I saw a recipe which featured sage I knew it was the one for us since J has a sage addiction, I doubled the sage in this recipe on his behalf and I know I could’ve added more – next time I would.

I really liked the pork chop recipe. It was very different then any recipe I had seen before. Have you ever made braised pork chops?

Since I had the fennel and it was December in August I made a risotto as an accompaniment which I have made before. Here is the Fennel Risotto recipe, it is a keeper.

I know this picture isn’t the best but I am so enamored by this orange pot I just had to post it. A Le Creuset pot acquired at a garage sale for $1, that is worth featuring isn’t it?

Braised Pork Chops with Tomatoes and Sage
(serves 2)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 butter
2 pork chops
flour
salt and pepper
½ cup whole tomatoes
6-8 sage leaves

In a skillet just big enough to accommodate both pork chops put the oil and butter over medium high heat. Dredge the chops in flour. When the butter stops foaming add the chops and sage. Brown the chops on each side, about two minutes a side. Add a pinch of salt and pepper as well as the tomatoes. Turn the heat to medium low and cook for an hour – alternatively put it in a 350F oven.

Fennel Risotto with Goat Cheese Recipe

katerina — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 22:21:00 +0000

I just can’t help wanting to make creamy comfort foods this time of year. So when I picked up Jaime’s Italy and saw all the neat risotto ideas I was sold. I made this with a few of my girlfriends as part of my birthday celebration and it was great fun. I had lots of company while I stirred and we managed to time dinner perfectly – I still have trouble timing foods around risotto. I am thinking this means I should make it more, you know for practice. The original recipe calls for fennel seeds and ricotta rather then goat cheese but the goat cheese was really good, it got all melty and creamy.

This is one of the first times I have ever cooked with fennel and certainly the first time I have made a fennel focused dish. There are so many vegetables I barely tried until leaving home which fall into this category – yams, brussel sprouts, squash, eggplant, etc. I will definitely do it again, I am thinking maybe a pasta with goat cheese and braised or roasted fennel would be really good? I actually tried to grow fennel this year but it wasn’t in a sunny enough location and it didn’t make it. However I am determined to try again, far more interesting then celery! In fact I bet you didn’t know that florence fennel – the vegetable kind was one of the main ingredients in absinthe!

Fennel Risotto with Goat Cheese
(serves 4)
Adapted from Jaime’s Italy

2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium fennel bulbs, sliced with herby tops saved
1 tablespoons butter
1 cup onions, chopped
2 small dried chiles, crumbled
1.5 cups arborio rice
1 glass white wine
1 litre chicken stock, approximately
2 tablespoons butter
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
1 lemon, zest and juice
4 tablespoons soft goat cheese

1. In a large skillet add a few glugs of olive oil over medium heat and saute the garlic until soft then add the fennel and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring regularly over medium low heat until fennel is soft – about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile start the risotto. Melt 1T of butter in a heavy casserole pot (I like enameled cast iron) over medium low heat. Meanwhile put the stock in another pot over low heat. Add chiles and onion and sauté until soft, about 5 minutes – don’t let it brown. Add the rice and stir it all together allowing the rice to absorb the moisture of the butter. Cook, stirring constantly for about a minute, don’t let it stick. Add the wine and continue stirring until absorbed, about 2 minutes. Add stock by the ladle until it has been absorbed stirring constantly. After your second addition of stock has been absorbed add the cooked fennel.

3. Once you risotto is just lightly al dente add the parmesan, remaining butter and lemon zest. Check the seasoning and add the lemon juice, tasting to make sure you don’t add too much. Stir in the herby fennel fronds.

4. Serve hot with crumbled goat cheese on top.