Golden Gate Gardener

Sweet Lemon Braised Fennel

I grow Florence fennel, from one of the varieties of fennel that produce large, white, aboveground bulbs (if the plants get good soil, plenty of water, and are adequately spaced in a garden). I wrote about this crop a couple of days ago, with photos. Here is a recipe that turns the anisy-flavored raw vegetable into a sweet, mild, not-anisy at all, cooked vegetable. Cooked fennel has its own unique flavor. I encourage you to try it.

Sweet Lemon Braised Fennel

one large fennel bulb (or up to 4 small ones)        Juice of 1/2 lemon--or more, to taste

3 Tablespoons of butter or margarine                    salt and pepper if desired

1 Tablespoon olive oil                                                 1/3 cup chicken or vegetarian broth or water

1/2 teaspoon granulated sugar

    1. Trim root and leaves from the bulb(s), leaving only the fat, white leaf bases. Quarter the         bulb(s) though the root end, or, if large, cut in 8ths. If your bulb is huge, as mine was, cut so   that no slice is thicker than about 5/8 inch at the outside edge. Try to get some of the core on each piece, so that the leaf bases remain attached, but if some bits get connected, save these and use them too. Rinse any dirt from the base of the bulb as you go, and trim dirt off of a good piece, if you can't wash it off.

The usable pieces are in the rear, in the front on the board, are mainly leaves, stems, etc. that will be discarded.

          2. In a large skillet (cast iron is good), melt the butter or margarine together with the olive oil, over medium heat. Add the fennel pieces and brown them nicely on both sides.  (You may have to do it in stages, a skilletful at a time if you have a lot. Put browned pieces on a paper towel on a plate while you brown some more.) You may have to add a little more butter and oil if you are cooking several batches of fennel. Reduce the heat to medium low, return any pieces you have set aside, and sprinkle them, in the skillet with the sugar and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper if you desire. Turn with a spatula, gently, once or twice to mix the ingredients, and then continue to sauté until the fennel is glazed and brown.

Fennel slices in the skillet at the start of the browning process.

    3. Add the broth or water and braise, tightly covered, for 10 minutes, adding more broth if needed. (If you are not limiting salt, you can use bullion.) When the fennel is tender, but not falling apart, transfer it to a serving dish with a slotted spoon.

Braised fennel in the skillet ready to serve. 

    If you like, add another half cup of broth, more lemon juice, and  a little more butter, whisk it together and serve it over the fennel. Note: I have never tried this, but it was in the original recipe, so I offer it for you to try.       

Growing Florence Fennel

Florence fennel is a domestic plant that forms a fat, white aboveground bulb. It is not known in much of the American nation because it needs a long, cool season in which to grow, and this is unavailable in most U..S. microclimates. However, the cool climate near the Pacific coast provides just what the plant needs. It is a high value crop that uses the fall/winter season, when rainfall is likely to help with water needs as fall progresses. I have been growing this crop for several years and encourage you to try it. 

The best time to grow Florence fennel is in late summer, so that it matures into and winter. Most varieties will bolt (flower) if you plant them in spring. 

This is a seedling of the Florence fennel variety 'Prelude,' photographed on September 6. I planted the seed on August 4.  Next week I will harden off the seedlings and the following week, I will plant them in my garden. It is important not to leave seedlings in too small a pot for too long, as they have a tap root, and you don't want the tap root to be malformed by pushing against the bottom of the pot. (You can sow the seeds directly in the garden as well, but I only get to my community garden once a week, so I want to transplant relatively large seedlings rather than starting from seed when possible, though I may have to water twice a week at first, even so.)

There are varieties said to be able to form bulbs, rather than bolting to flower when planted in spring. (That is, they will grow upward, into flower stems, rather than forming a good bulb.) I have not tried them all. The one I did try, 'Perfection' formed smaller bulbs than my summer-planted 'Prelude'. I will need more trials to see how others perform when spring-planted. Others that are said to form bulbs from a spring planting are 'Finale', 'Zefa Fino' and 'Selma Fino'. 

In any case, 'Prelude' has made very fat bulbs for me, wider than tall. Some varieties form bulbs that are a tad taller than wide. Harvest when the bulb is 3-5 inches across, but mature size will vary depending on the variety you are growing, and you will learn the best size for the one you are growing. I harvest them one at a time, eating each before I remove the next one, so they get a little bigger as I go along. The plants are very patient in winter, not bolting as I eat them one a period of a month or two.

Just be sure you have nice rich, well-drained soil and water it deeply whenever the top inch or so is dry. Also, plant seedlings at least 6 inches apart, and 8-10 inches apart is preferable. 

Here is a photo of a mature fennel bulb. Note that it is not very near to other plants, so it can mature well.

Raw fennel is used in many sophisticated salads, to which it adds a anise or licorice flavor. Cooked, is has a mild. sweet. unique flavor, not at all anisy. I will post soon with a couple of recipes for using cooked fennel. If you dislike raw fennel I strongly suggest that you try it cooked in a couple of dishes.