November · San Diego
Fennel
Fennel is a cool-weather vegetable; as the nights drop into the fifties it comes back sweet and crisp. Raw, it's anise-cool and crunchy; cooked slowly, it turns soft and mild.
How to choose it
- Heavy, tight, white bulbs
- No brown bruising or splitting on the outer layers
- Fresh, upright fronds; limp fronds mean it's been sitting
Buy this much: 3 bulbs: two for the jar, one for the braise. One more if you make the halibut.
Sold by the bulb. Bigger bulbs are usually the better deal.
During the week
- Pickled, over lentils, on the farro bowls, and beside the crisp chicken
- Shaved raw with satsuma beside seared halibut
- Diced into the minestrone with the carrots, if you have an extra bulb
On a weekend
Cut in wedges and braised with leeks under the chicken thighs.
One thing worth learning
Fennel changes completely with heat: raw it's crisp and cool, cooked it goes soft and sweet and loses most of its anise. Someone who doesn't like it raw may love it braised.