(Yesterday's entry was Day 42: Savoury Stewed Fennel - Μάραθο με σάλτσα ντομάτας - April 13, 2014)
When we buy fennel at the grocery store, we already have an idea of what we are serving, and we find that for some foods, fennel is a lovely complement. Fennel gives a sweet, yet spicy flavour that lingers for a moment after you swallow. The texture is crispy like celery, but not stringy. The bulb has multiple layers and different parts that add a nice variety to any dish where it is included.
Our typical way of cooking a bulb of fennel is to roast it. This way, no matter what else we are serving, we know there will be one item that does not need much enhancement to shine. That is fennel.
Roasting fennel is pretty basic. You need to toss it with oil, salt, and pepper, and put the dish in the oven for a while until it is cooked through. This can take from 15 minutes to 50 minutes, depending how quickly you want to serve it. We used an oven set to 400º F (about 200º C) for about 23 minutes. The fennel was tender, flavourful, and slightly golden, which made it more attractive. We have said several times that we need to buy and cook fennel much more often because of these reasons.
For this recipe, you will need the following:
1 Bulb of fennel
oil -- enough to coat all the fennel
salt and pepper to taste
This is a method that you can use with many different vegetables.
First, cut the long parts of the fennel bulb so that you have separated the long from the round parts. Then, cut those pieces into a length about 2 inches (about 5 cm). Leave the fronds in place and intact because they will get crispy in the oven and give you one more level of texture when eating this dish.
Cut the fennel bulb (the round part) into wedges. You want to try to keep the pieces as evenly sized as possible. This is not always easy, since fennel has a core in the centre that you have to remove; that makes the middle pieces a bit smaller than the outer pieces. Try to keep all the pieces near the same size. Put the pieces of fennel in a baking dish. It will not matter if they are layered or not.
Now, coat the fennel with some oil (about 3 Tablespoons). You don't want too much oil because you don't want this to fry in the oven. You want it to bake. It should be just enough oil to make all the pieces of fennel shine. Add salt and pepper to your liking. We find that this dish does not need a lot of salt, nor does it need much pepper, either. But, we add a little of each "for the good of it" (gia to kalo)
Mix this all around to make sure that the salt, pepper, and oil are evenly distributed. Then, put the baking dish full of fennel into the 400º F (about 200º C) for the next 15 minutes.
You will see the colour start to build, and at this point, turn the fennel pieces. Turn them over so that both top and bottom get that golden tan in the oven. Continue to cook the second side for about 10 minutes. Check to see if they are the same colour as the top, or close. We were able to see the blistering skin of the fennel pieces, and the nice brown colour in the grooves. You will also notice the fronds getting crispy. If they are too well done, pull them out of the dish, set them aside, and continue to cook the larger pieces. In total, this should take between 30 and 40 minutes at 400º F (about 200º C).
Once the fennel is done cooking, it will be slightly translucent, soft, and golden brown in parts. Put the pieces in the serving dish, and pour on top of it any residual oil from the baking dish. You have now made a fennel-oil! Serve the fennel hot out of the oven and enjoy.
The Perfect Person's Rule of Life:
The perfect person does not only try to avoid evil. Nor does he do good for fear of punishment, still less in order to qualify for the hope of a promised reward.
The perfect person does good through love.
His actions are not motivated by desire for personal benefit, so he does not have personal advantage as his aim. But as soon as he has realized the beauty of doing good, he does it with all his energies and in all that he does.
He is not interested in fame, or a good reputation, or a human or divine reward.
The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God.
St. Clement of Alexandria
Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html
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