This month I thought I'd kick off with the one thing that gets more comments than anything else.  The duck?  The Red Snapper Keralan?  No.  It's one of the vegetables we serve to accompany the meal.  That's right!  One thing that nearly everyone asks about it the braised Fennel!  How do I do it?  Why does it not taste like aniseed?  Why have we never had fennel at home?

It's really gratifying when people enjoy something you've cooked for them and this fennel dish is a big hit.  Serve it at dinner parties as a starter or a side dish or even as a veggie main course (substituting for the chicken stock of course).  I know pride is supposed to be a sin but I'm proud of this dish, one that I developed over time, trying this or that before getting it right (I think.)

So here it is.  Braised fennel.  Or if you want it to sound exotic and exciting it's...

Finnochio al forno

Serves Four as accompaniment or two as a starter

Ingredients:

2 large or 4 small bulbs of fennel.  English is best in season.

1 pint/500ml of good chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

1/4 pint/125ml Double cream

Freshly grated parmesan

Ground Black Pepper

Trim the tips and base of the fennel to remove any root and stalk, reserving any of the feathery herb for garnish or flavouring fish dishes.  Cut the fennel bulbs into halves or quarters (depending on their size) and arrange them in a single layer on the bottom of an hob-proof dish with a lid or saucepan.

Add enough chicken stock to just cover the fennel, season with black pepper (don't add any salt as the cheese will season the fennel later) bring to the boil on the hob and simmer with the lid on until the fennel can be pierced easily with a sharp knife, about 20 mins.

Then add the double cream and increase the heat to slightly reduce the stock.  Then top with freshly grated parmesan and put in the top of a hot oven (around gas 7) with the lid off to reduce, roast and brown.  After about 40 minutes the stock will have reduced to a thick coating, the cheese will be brown and bubbling and the fennel soft, sweet and with barely a hint of the acid and strong aniseed of the raw vegetable.

Serve as a starter with freshly baked bread or as an accompaniment to the main meal.

If you want to try something else with this recipe then try taking it out of the oven sooner, blitzing the whole lot in the food processor with a little more stock and seiving for a truly wicked cream of roasted fennel and parmesan soup!  Two recipes in one!

Happy noshing folks!

Paul