eggs on sunday

Fennel is one of those things that I have wanted to like for a long time. You know the feeling when you think you should like a flavor, and it’s mildly distressing that you can’t in good faith say that you truly do? That was me and fennel. I kept thinking “Maybe I just haven’t prepared it the best way. Maybe this was a bad bulb. Maybe I didn’t eat it at the peak of flavor. Maybe I cut it too thickly. Maybe this wasn’t the right recipe to try it in.” Excuses, excuses.

Part of the reason I’ve wanted to like fennel so much is because I think the plant itself, with its creamy white ribbed bulb and feathery green fronds, is a thing of pure beauty. And I’m definitely not a picky eater; there are few foods I dislike, so how could I not like something as pretty and supposedly tasty as fennel? The problem lays with licorice. That is one flavor solidly on my “disliked foods” list, and I guess my wariness of licorice-y flavored things always got in the way of me giving fennel a real fighting shot.

All that has gone out the window recently, though. Inspired by my love of lentils, I was looking for new things to cook with them and came across this recipe on epicurious.com, from the January 2007 issue of Gourmet magazine. It is delicious — and it has fennel in three (!) different forms! A fennel trifecta, you could say. Nothing like going whole hog on this fennel thing, right?? The tasty little French le puy lentils are sauteed with carrot, celery, onions, garlic, fennel seed, and diced fennel bulb; chopped feathery fennel fronds are tossed in at the end, and you serve it with some slices of browned sausage on top (for which I used turkey sausage — and the fennel used in the sausage seasoning was, I think, a good match.) The fennel wasn’t overpowering at all, actually it was rather nice and sweet in the dish; we’ve really been enjoying it paired with a slice of crusty bread and a glass of red wine…yum!

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Quick and delicious, plus the “hands-on” component makes it fun. If you don’t want to serve it to wrap in lettuce leaves, it’s equally good over rice.

Adapted from Gourmet, June 2006.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 scallions, chopped (1/4 cup)
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb total), cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup bottled hoisin sauce (in Asian section)
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1/2 cup cashews
12 large red- or green-leaf lettuce leaves

Directions

Heat a wok or heavy large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking, then add oil. Add ginger, salt, and 2 tablespoons scallions and stir-fry until ginger is fragrant, about 45 seconds. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry until just cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add hoisin sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and cashews and stir-fry until heated through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons scallions.

To serve, spoon chicken mixture into lettuce leaves and wrap leaves around filling to enclose it, or just serve the chicken over rice.

Makes 4 servings.

B’s all-time favorite dinner! It’s a substantial soup; we usually have it with some cornbread or guacamole and chips. The chipotle chile gives the soup a nice smoky, spicy flavor; if you want it less spicy, use half a chile instead of a whole one.

Ingredients

1 can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
6 cloves crushed garlic
6 cups chicken broth
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 medium red potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups frozen corn
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Chop 1 chile and reserve 1 tsp. adobo sauce (save the rest of the chiles and sauce for another use.) Heat oil; add chile and next 6 ingredients (through garlic.) Cook until onions are soft, about 7 minutes. Stir in broth and bring to a boil. Add chicken; turn down heat and simmer 30 minutes or until chicken is done. Remove chicken and shred meat with 2 forks.

Remove pan from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Blend broth mixture (in batches in a food processor/blender, or all at once in the pot with a hand blender.) Add potatoes and corn; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook uncovered 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Stir in shredded chicken and cream; simmer 5 minutes. Stir in adobo sauce, tomato, cilantro and salt.

Makes 6 servings.

I came up with this recipe one spring day when I was thinking about a light, yet flavorful, way to marinate chicken before cooking it. I usually pound my chicken breasts to 1/2-inch thickness before grilling; this helps it to cook evenly (and much more quickly!) This marinade is delicious on chicken, but would also be good on fish. Such bright, fresh flavors!

Ingredients

2 chicken breast halves or fillets
2 Tbsp lemon juice (1 lemon)
1 Tbsp white wine
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp olive oil
a bit of chopped fresh parsley, if you have some on hand (about 1 tbsp)
a good grinding/sprinkling of coarse salt and pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, wine, dijon mustard, olive oil, and a good grinding of black pepper and sprinkling of salt. Add this marinade to a ziploc plastic bag, then add the 2 chicken breasts. Seal the bag, then rotate and squeeze it around a bit to get the chicken all nicely coated. Let the bag sit in your refrigerator (it’s a good idea to keep a plate or some other container under it, in case of any leaks) for a few hours - you could leave it all day, it would only get better, but I’ve left it in for 2 hours and still had good results.

Either grill or bake the chicken - grilling is especially good, but you could also bake it in a glass baking dish. Depending on the thickness of your chicken, grilling on medium might take about 5-7 minutes per side, while baking would take around 20-25 minutes at 400 degrees.

This is a great main-course salad for the summer, when the greens, cherry tomatoes, and green beans are all in season.

Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2001.

Ingredients

1/2 pound slender green beans, trimmed

2 cups arugula or spinach (about 6 ounces)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives or other brine-cured black olives, halved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 8- to 9-ounce New York strip steak

1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese

Directions

Cook the green beans in a pot of boiling, generously salted water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Drain them in a colander and transfer them immediately to bowl of ice water — this stops the cooking and helps retain the bright green color. Drain and set aside.

Prepare a grill or grill pan (medium high heat). Combine the shocked beans, greens, tomatoes, and olives in large bowl. Whisk oil, vinegar and dijon mustard together in a separate small bowl.

Brush the steak with a little oil and season it with salt and pepper. Grill it to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Cut the steak crosswise into strips.

Toss the salad with enough dressing to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among 2 plates and arrange the steak strips on top. Sprinkle the crumbled blue cheese over the tops.

Makes 2 servings.

This pork loin roast has a flavor-packed crust — garlic, rosemary, kosher salt, yum! Goes great with any autumn vegetables.

Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 1999.

Ingredients

4 large garlic cloves, pressed
4 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 2 teaspoons dried
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 2 1/2-pound boneless pork loin roast, well trimmed

Directions

Combine the garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper in a bowl, and mash into a coarse paste. Rub this mixture all over the pork loin, and set the loin in a roasting pan. Roast at 400 degrees until the pork registers 155 degrees in the middle (about 1 hour for a 2.5 lb roast, but could be more or less depending on the size of your roast — for instance, if you make this using pork tenderloins, they will probably only take about 25 minutes or so.)