Monday 3 August 2009

fennel

i tried to post this yesterday but was having trouble learning how to use flickr so i'm two days late again ... there's a lot to learn with this blog business!

not having a garden means no cut flowers, but a bunch of fennel stems works just as well. I've got lots of recipes for fennel bulbs, but what else can i don't know what to do with the stems/leaves...

radish and the fennel

this is what happened to the fennel bulbs:

Chicken and Fennel Pie
enough pastry for a lid
egg wash
1 onion
2 leeks finely sliced
2 fennel bulb sliced
350g chicken cubed
300ml chicken stock
dill
2 star anise
1 tbsp arrowroot
5 tiny zucchinis sliced thickly

saute onion, leek, fennel for 3 mins. add chicken and sear all sides, add stock, dill, star anise and bring to boil. reduce to simmer.
thicken with arrowroot and simmer for 10mins
add zucchini and cook for 3 mins
put filling in a bowl, put pastry lid on top, brush with egg wash and cook for 30mins in a hot oven.

it's a very tasty pie if i do say so myself and is super quick and easy if you're lazy like me and buy the pastry! i tried careme's puff pastry for the first time last night and went to buttery heaven and back again!

there are lots more people taking a photo a day in august at The Byron Life

4 comments:

  1. You could wrap a whole fish (or fillets) in fennel leaves (plus some lemon slices, etc.) and bake it in the oven. Or stuff the fish with it and then bake or grill it. Or throw it in the pot when making stock, soup, stew, etc.

    Or throw it over the fence to feed the sheep. Might not work at your place, though. :)

    Oh, and your recipe sounds lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  2. lol @ veggie. fennel...ewwwww...looks lovely though but tastes like..fennel! but the careme pastry may have made it all taste soo much better. That stuff is insanely delish.

    ReplyDelete
  3. veggie - thanks for your suggestions! i don't think the busses eat fennel and that's all i've got over the balcony fence unfortunately. :)i will get myself a fish next time i buy fennel though.

    kel - it's all your fault i started buying careme pastry! i'd never noticed it until you blogged about it, ever so tasty but ever so expensive... oh and fennel is delicious!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The fennel flavour in the pie ends up fairly muted really. I presume the bulbs are the woosiest part flavour wise.

    ReplyDelete