Fennel, my forgotten friend!

It could be a king in our gardens!

I always wondered why there exists a category of vegetables that are ignored or totally forgotten. I could probably find a very long list, and amongst those, one of my favorite vegetable friend is fennel. Miam! (French for yum) Well, I know, the colour is somewhat dull, a plain white-like colour, nothing attractive or special about it, nothing of the beautiful orange of a Thanksgiving huge pumpkin, king of all at this time of year, but eh, when it comes to the taste ( similar to anise), fennel just on its own is a delight, and could win well deserved awards.

So here is the story: I am already very happy when people accept to try it when I serve it, although they surely have apprehension (but as polite as people tend to be here, they might not tell me anyway.)

I cannot tell you how many times I have gone to stores and I was asked “What’s that?”, “What do you cook with that?” (mind you, we are not asking cashiers to be vegetable gardeners, but still!)

In any case, I just wanted to share two simple ways to accommodate fennel.

Number 1 - very simple, after washing it and removing the green parts (but keeping some for decoration and taste), you are going to slice the white part of the fennel. Then easy. Take a steamer and steam until the vegetable is tender (it all depends how thick you cut the vegetable). It should not take more than 15 mns. Then remove, add salt (I have a preference for Herbamare or Fleur de Sel) and freshly ground pepper, and a tbsp of rich olive oil. Chop thinly the green parts of the fennels (it looks like dill) and serve with meat, and mashed cooked pumpkin!

Simplement délicieux !

Number 2 - a soup. Everyone likes soups in the premises of winter!

What do you need:

-4 fennels
-2 garlic cloves
-30cl milk
-30 cl heavy cream
-1 goat cheese (fresh) ( I also used a cheese called La Ture, from cow milk)
-2 tbsp olive oil
-Salt and pepper

Start by washing the fennels. Keep the white parts, slice them and steam them with the garlic cloves. Keep some of the green parts of the fennels. After about 20mns, the vegetables should be tender. Remove and mix with them, the milk, cream and the cheese together. Let cook for about 5mns and then using a hand blender, mix the preparation. If you want a more liquidy texture, you can add some more milk, or vegetable broth. Add salt and pepper and the olive oil.
Decorate with the reserved green parts that you will have chopped. (I also added some cooked shrimps)

Bon appétit!