Ok... so I thought that I didn't like Fennel!
Hmmm. Fennel.
I am not a licorice fan (please don't start in on me about my licorice aversion - it's not rational!) so as soon as a heard that fennel had an anise flavour I really just erased it from my mind. However, just a couple of years ago I saw a show on the food network by Giada de Laurentiis that got me slightly interested. It involved fennel with some cheese and some crunch. More recently Saveur's april issue featured food from Rome and a lovely fennel recipe was in it. Simple, tasty, cheesy, crunchy. It actually sounded appealing to me. Almost appealing enough to buy fennel. Then over at Lottie and Doof, they featured that exact recipe and it looked great (the photos on this site are so amazing!!!). The thing that pushed more over the edge was getting fennel in my first organic food box. I could have chosen to refuse it for another veg. but at this point I was kind of curious... I had this recipe in my head. They just sent one fennel bulb so it was a perfect trial...
Well, the trial was successful. So successful that I've ordered 3 fennel bulbs in this weeks food box! The anise flavour is there, for sure, but it really does take on a mellow butteriness (just like they all said it did - duh!) and I LOOOOOOVED the crunch. I was the only one who ate it in my house (which pisses me off but then it tastes good so I don't care anymore). I would love this along side something (well, now I'm trying to think about what wouldn't work!)... that tastes good! (there that pretty much covers it. Leave me some ideas for a nice mate for this dish howzabouts). Plus, I think that Fennel sound really cool in Italian - Finocchio (and, NO, I'm not going to make any reference to how much that word sounds like the name of the famous puppet).
Finocchio con Latte al Forno (Fennel with Milk, Baked)
(adapted from Sauveur and Lottie and Doof)
3 Fennel bulbs (fronds cut off)
Enough milk to cover the bulbs
2 large garlic cloves, coarsely sliced
a few dashes of freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 - 1/3 cup of parmesan
Sprinkling of herbed bread crumbs (optional)
Cut the fennel bulbs into halves or quaters. Place in a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan. Cover the bulbs with milk (or just to the top of the bulbs). Add the garlic and nutmeg to the pan. Simmer the fennel at low heat for 30 - 45 minutes (until the fennel feels tender).
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Laddle into a baking dish. Put just enough of the milk in the dish to cover the bottom plus a little (about an inch or two up the dish). Sprinkle the fennel with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs if you choose.
Bake for about 20 min or until nicely browned on the top.
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About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
About Me
- Wanda Thorne
- St Michael's Choir School is celebrating it's 75th anniversary year of service to St Michael's Cathedral. Part of the school celebration is a trip to Italy where our boys from Grades 5 - 12 will be performing and celebrating Mass. This blog will be chronicling our adventures. Wanda Thorne is the Vocal Coach at St Michael's Choir School. Gerard Lewis is the Grade 7/8 Homeroom teacher at the Choir School.
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