Fennel bulbs gently braised in aniseed liqueur and broth, then garnished with fennel leaves and orange peel.
Fennel is one of those vegetables that I didn’t really cook or eat much until recently. It seemed to me something precious, something unusual, not an everyday vegetable like broccoli or green beans.
First, I would just slice it thinly into a salad. (So good with Parmesan.) Then I discovered frying. With some balsamic? Yummy. And then I found out how good it was in a seafood tomato sauce.
Yes, I’m getting addicted to fennel. This Braised Fennel recipe is the latest incarnation of The Fennel Experiments, and I have a confession to make. I ate the whole portion.
yes it serves 4
Usually.
Yes, I could have saved some for my family. Not me! Ah great. What they don’t know won’t hurt them, right? Now that you have the recipe, you can make your own. (I can only hear my father now: “et tu, Brutus, et tu?” He can be a bit dramatic at times.)
So back to the braised fennel. It is wonderful. I recommend it as an accompaniment to lamb, fish, shellfish or chicken. Do extra.
Braised Fennel
The purpose of the liqueur is to intensify the licorice flavor of the fennel. If you don’t have anise-flavored liquor or don’t want to cook with alcohol, you can achieve a similar effect by adding a star anise pod to the broth as you stew. If you’re not a fan of the licorice flavor, just skip this step.
ingredients
-
2 big fennel light bulbsrinsed clean
-
4 tablespoon butter
-
1 teaspoon Salt
-
1 teaspoon sugar
-
2 tablespoon ouzoPastis, Sambuca or other anise flavored liqueur
-
1/2 Cup vegetables or chicken share
-
1/2 Cup water
-
2 tablespoon chopped fennel fronds
-
citrus peel from 1 orange
-
lemon juice
method
-
Preparation of the fennel bulbs:
Cut off the tips of the fennel bulbs, chop 2 tablespoons of the fronds and set aside. Halve the fennel bulbs lengthwise through the stalk. Cut each half lengthwise into quarters (you should get eight total pieces from each fennel bulb), leaving part of the core on so the pieces don’t fall apart during cooking.
How to cut fennelCONTINUE READING:
-
Fry the fennel quarters in butter on two sides:
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the fennel pieces to the pan in a single layer. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the fennel pieces, without stirring, for at least 2 minutes.
Sprinkle salt and sugar over the fennel (the sugar will help caramelize).
Check to see if they’re browned, and if they’re not browned, cook them for a minute or two more. Turn the fennel pieces over and fry the other side.
-
Add ouzo, then broth and water:
When both sides of the fennel are nicely browned, add the ouzo to the pan. Increase the heat to medium-high. The ouzo should boil down quickly. When it’s almost gone, add the broth and water.
-
Cover and simmer:
Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce the heat to minimum, cover the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
-
Uncover, reduce liquid to a glaze:
Remove the lid, increase the heat to high and allow the broth to simmer until it is a glaze. Add the fennel leaves and most of the orange peel and mix gently.
Serve garnished with the remaining zest and a few squeezes of lemon juice.
Links:
Braised fennel and tomato – from Sunday lunch
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 151 | calories |
| 12g | Fat |
| 8g | carbohydrates |
| 1g | protein |
