vegetable - fennel
t=teaspoon T=tablespoon
These recipes are for your personal use only and may not be added in any form to archives or other works.
Wild fennel is the spring herb I eagerly look forward to and can forage easily here in my part of Spain. The tender young fronds, finely minced much like chives makes for a wonderful, nutritious, calcium rich dish or can be used raw in salads. Wild fennel is the precursor of cultivated fennel and does not produce a bulb but its fronds are used as a herb or vegetable. Wherever it grows, it appears in profusion and was in times past considered a peasant dish. Often minced, as the Sicilians or Sardinians do, mixed with softened leftover bread and mixed with grated hard cheese such as pecorino or parmesan. Formed into cakes and fried in olive oil, it is simply delicious. Modern versions use dried bread crumbs but I prefer to stay as close to the origins of this speciality and use leftover bread.
Fennel Cakes - Peasant Style
makes about 6-8, enough as a light lunch or dinner for two
1 bunch fennel fronds (+- 200 g. or what will fit tightly encircled with your index finger to the thumb)
1 beaten egg
a little broth (vegetable or other)
50 g. dried white bread (or whatever is on hand)
50 g. grated hard cheese such as pecorino, parmesan or mature Manchego
pepper
minced wild garlic (optional - see note below)
Gather young fronds, avoiding the very thick, tougher stems. Lay all in one direction in a basket. If you can gather some of the tender, light green hearts, lay these separately. Once home, rinse gently in a large bowl of water a few times.
Parboil in unsalted water for about15 minutes (or until the thickest stems crush easily), adding the fennel hearts at the last 5 minutes. Or steam them until tender. This step is necessary as the fennel stems can be quite hard. In the meantime, tear or cut the bread into small pieces and moisten with a little broth, taking care not to wet them too much. Just enough so that they are no longer hard.
Drain (or remove with tongs to keep stems in one direction) and rinse gently with cold water. Drain again and lay in a cloth towel and pat gently to dry somewhat. Starting from the ends of the stems, mince finely as if chopping chives.
With a fork, mash the bread somewhat, season with a little pepper and blend in the beaten egg. Add the cheese and the minced fennel, stirring well with a fork to blend. Take a rounded tablespoon and form to a cake. If it doesn't hold, add a little more beaten egg. The mass should not be too dry nor very wet.
Fry in a little olive oil until lightly browned on both sides. Drain and serve if you like as I prefer with a little room temperature yogurt to which I have added a little minced garlic.
Note: serve these with poached, scrambled egg or a plain omelette or with smoked salmon, fresh salmon or perch filets. You can also add the minced garlic to the minced fennel together or in the yoghurt sauce. Both are delicious.
Variation: don't have enough fennel? Make up the rest with minced parsley, however do not blanch the parsley leaves but do blanch the stems at the last 5 minutes of blanching the fennel fronds. Also, a cooked potato can replace part of the bread. These cakes will taste somewhat differently, but also delicious! Dill alone, or other tender herbs such as chervil mixed with parsley leaves make very tasty herb patties. In this case, no parboiling is necessary. I just lightly steam them for a minute or so to wilt before continuing the recipe.
All recipes are excerpts from "Welcome to My Kitchen" - The Epicurean Table and are copyright of the author. Recipes are not to be
added to any form of archive or other works of any kind. Contact the author for further information.
The Epicurean Table © 1999-2006 Patricia Conant