I have all this lovely fennel growing

[lovebenton0]

ok. i've used some of our fennel before, in garlic and fennel mashers, carrot soup, roasted carrots and fennel, sausage and fennel...

but i really would like to expand this. i have a lovely fennel that grows, and grows, every year and i'm just not using it in all the ways i could be.

my bulbs don't look like the pics i've seen, but they look like what we get here at market, not round but spatulate.

not the best pic of the bulbs growing, but you should have seen me trying to get down like that.

fennel bulbs, stalks, fronds, seeds....

any suggestions???

[Pan]

Search results of a search of the Cooking Forum under "fennel," title only.

I don't see any thread about the seeds, though. I love fennel seeds, and there are so many things you can do with them! Lots of Indian dishes use them, but so do excellent Italian sausages. You can even make a tea from them that soothes the stomach.

[Chufi]

My favorite way to let fennel be the star of a dish is a fennel gratin.

Boil slices of fennel until barely tender, then layer in a dish with butter (lots of butter) and parmesan. Sprinkle the top with parmesan and breadcrumbs and dot with even more butter.. bake until golden and bubbling.

Lovely side dish with a simple roast chicken, or pork.

edited to add that if you have such beautiful fennel fronds, I would add them to the dish as well.

Edited April 18, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[zilla369]

One thing fennel is lovely in is crabcakes!

Click here for the recipe for the fennel crabcakes we serve where i work.

Another thing we use it a lot for is a finely-chopped fennel slaw (like cole slaw, but with fennel in place of cabbage) which makes a great garnish.

[Basilgirl]

Braise it in chicken stock, saute in lots of butter first. A little red pepper flakes, S&P. White wine is nice too.

I like it raw as a salad with olive oil, lemon juice or red wine vinegar, S&P, good olives or orange sections, Parmesan.

[Ari]

I stuff a whole fish with fennel and cook it on the grill. And a salad of mandoline-sliced fennel, orange, and oil-cured black olives is perfection on a plate, if you ask me.

[Chris Amirault]

I like it raw as a salad with olive oil, lemon juice or red wine vinegar, S&P, good olives or orange sections, Parmesan.

←

Yep, or with parsley, lemon juice, EVOO, shaved parm, good salt, pepper.

[jm chen]

Incredibly tasty roasted inside and below a chicken. They should be cut into wedges and boiled for about 8 minutes on the stovetop before being popped into the oven for chickenside roasting.

Cooking Light has had recent recipes for fennel gratin and fennel bread pudding -- both sounded extremely tasty.

[Busboy]

Confit it in olive oil, with garlic and bay in quantity.

Throw it in a sautee pan with Onion, garlic, carrot, green beans, bay leaf and Pernod -- an instant trip to Provence.

[ludja]

I love fennel and have gotton lots of wonderful ideas to use them from Alice Waters...

grilled fennel wedges (parboil for 20 min or so; then brush with oil and grill on skewers-- serve with a little dressing of chopped leaves, olive oil, s&p, lemon juice and anchovy if you like)

caramelized fennel: (cut into thin slices and cook slowly over med heat with olive oil and s&p until caramelized; serve as a side with grilled meat)

One of my favorite springtime salads: shaved fennel, artichokes and parmesean salad

Use a mandoline or plastic slicer to cut very thin slices of raw fennel, raw artichoke hearts. Put a layer on serving platter or plate. Squeeze some lemon juice and olive oil over and a few drops of truffle oil, s*p. Proceed with the next layer until done. On top layer shave slice of parmesean cheese w/vegetable peeler. Add some chopped parsley, olive oil, lemon juice, truffle oil... Serve.

Go easy on the truffle oil if you use it; only 1 Tbs or so is good for 2 fennel bulbs and 2 lg. artichokes...

Lots of great variations on this-- raw fennel and raw white mushrooms--beautifully pale, strew some chopped fennel fonds on top. radishes are nice too.

[fifi]

When I had fennel growing, I tried to collect the pollen. I did get some and used it to sprinkle on a salad that included thinly sliced fennel stalks. I know there has to be a better way to collect the pollen.

I really enjoyed having the fresh seed and used them in just about everything.

But the most fun was letting the caterpillars eat their fill. I had dozens of what I think were Spicebush Swallowtails. Just about every morning there would be one that had just emerged and was expanding its wings.

[lovebenton0]

Search results of a search of the Cooking Forum under "fennel," title only.

I don't see any thread about the seeds, though. I love fennel seeds, and there are so many things you can do with them! Lots of Indian dishes use them, but so do excellent Italian sausages. You can even make a tea from them that soothes the stomach.

←

thanks, Pan. must have done something wrong when i googled it, i ended up with way too choices.

and i was hoping to get some input on actually being able to pluck the fennel goodies fresh and use them. this thread on wild fennel makes me think that what we really have is wild fennel. it was already here when we bought the house. (at least two years old according to previous owner who planted it, given to her by a friend.) since we don't have those big round bulbs i'm thinking this is the case.

yeah, fennel seed in Italian sausage is the best and i've added ours fresh and dried to dishes i make using that when i want some extra punch. the Italian sausage in TX is just not the same as i could get up around Chicago or in NY. so the added fennel seed really helps.

[lovebenton0]

When I had fennel growing, I tried to collect the pollen. I did get some and used it to sprinkle on a salad that included thinly sliced fennel stalks. I know there has to be a better way to collect the pollen.

I really enjoyed having the fresh seed and used them in just about everything.

But the most fun was letting the caterpillars eat their fill. I had dozens of what I think were Spicebush Swallowtails. Just about every morning there would be one that had just emerged and was expanding its wings.

←

we definitely have those caterpillars and the butterflies!

i haven't done anything with the pollen, hadn't thought about that. will try some later in the season before it goes to seed. thanks.

lots of good ideas here already, from everyone. i'm going to enjoy this fennel more this year than in the past. thanks!

and fifi if this really is the wild fennel you might find it around your area too... if it's growing along the west coast as stated in the wild fennel thread

[fifi]

Oh . . . I didn't realize that what you have is a volunteer, or maybe wild fennel. That would be cool if it grows here.

[Wolfert]

I was told the best way to get pollen from the wild fennel plant is to put a paper bag upside down over the plant, gather it at the opening, and invert it so you can shake and release all the pollen into the bag. Worth a try. Please let me know. If you have a lot, you can start that fund for your retirement. I understand the pollen costs a pretty penny. Check out zingermans.

[jhlurie]

It was just a few months ago that I was proclaiming that Fennel would be big someday. Things are just ahead of schedule.

Joking aside, people made some real speculations in that wacky thread--later on after that linked post. Although I think more people turned out to be fans of cumin.

[handmc]

Tony Bourdain's tomato and fennel soup Rocks. It is a snap to cook and a new favorite on my soup list!

[lovebenton0]

I was told the best way to get pollen from the wild fennel plant  is to put a paper bag upside down over the plant, gather it at the opening, and invert it so you can shake  and release all the pollen into the bag. Worth a try. Please let me know.  If you have a lot, you can start that fund for your retirement. I understand the pollen costs a pretty penny. Check out zingermans.

←

well this fennel grouping i have grows to almost six feet tall. it's already over four foot. so i suppose i'd need to bag it and lop it to shake the pollen. I'll definitely let you know, Paula... sounds like a fun experiment anyway.

  Oh . . . I didn't realize that what you have is a volunteer, or maybe wild fennel. That would be cool if it grows here.

it wasn't a volunteer, she did plant it. and i'm not sure about that wild thing, fifi. but it does seem to make sense looking at the evidence (no rounded bulb). it doesn't spread like a weed though. i only have that one grouped fennel (probably 12 or 15 spatulate semi-bulbed plants now). it has increased the size of grouping by one or two shoots a year. i've only had it try to spread twice and i dug up both of those and gave them to butterfly-loving friends for their gardens. it is surrounded by MX petunias.

maybe i just discouraged its tendency to be aggressive.

if you decide you'd like to try some seeds PM me.

so throwing the sliced fennel stalks into soups and braised veggies....? or slicing thin for salads, slaws, etc.?

[ludja]

Tony Bourdain's tomato and fennel soup Rocks. It is a snap to cook and a new favorite on my soup list!

←

Tomato and fennel are a great combo. I like to make risotto with tomato and fennel. Sometimes add shrimp into the mix or else make a shrimp and fennel risotto.