Anyone cook with fennel?

[frugal-one]

I recently made a pizza that had fennel seeds in the sauce. I absolutely loved it! I see there are fennel bulbs. I saw that you use fennel like you would celery. Can fennel be frozen? Other good recipes ???? :idea:

[iris lily]

Our new neighborhood pizzeria makes a fennel pizza that I love. I will never order any other kind.

Well, now I have to tell my fennel bulb story. Note: I do not cook with fennel as this story will illustrate.

DH told me that he set a fennel bulb from his garden on the kitchen counter. First time he's grown fennel, and since I wasn't sure what it looked like, I took what I thought was the fennel, sliced it, sauted it, and ate some of it. Egad it was awful.

Later my stomach starting aching. It turns out that I'd sliced up DH's amarylis bulb, the one his mom gave him before she died. Boy did I hear about that for years afterward.

[CropCircleDancer]

I eat lots of it but I don't freeze it. I put it in soups quite a bit, and it is the secret ingredient in a good broth. I use the tough outer pieces and the tips for broth. I use it in anything that calls for celery.

[herbgeek]

I also use it raw, chopped up with shredded Granny Smith apple, as a "slaw". I've had it braised in seafood dishes, yum. Roasting it in a hot oven brings out the sweetness, and of course you can grill it. Never froze it though, it has such a high water content that I'm not sure what the texture would be after thawing, but you could probably still use it in a stew where the texture wouldn't matter.

[rosarugosa]

IrisLily: Oh no, I would have heard about that for the rest of my life!
DH makes a wonderful fennel fish chowder. I can't do onions, so he uses the fennel to flavor the chowder instead. It is very yummy! We should probably try using it in some different applications since we love it so much in the chowder.

[IshbelRobertson]

Roasted fennel cooked in olive oil is delicious eaten hot or cold. I add it to salads and soups. The green fronds are great to stuff fish like trout or sea bass. I've used it as a pizza topping, put it in soups and stews.

[frugal-one]

Iris Lily... that is too funny!!!!! I am going to get some fennel on my next grocery run. I have only tried the seeds so far so I have lots of experimenting to do.

[rosarugosa]

Thanks Ishbel - that sounds like simple and useful info (perfect SLN advice!)

[Zigzagman]

I'm not a cook but I love fennel. My DW wife makes me turkey sausage breakfast patties (14 at a time) with fennel seeds, olive oil, garlic powder, fresh rosemary, italian seasoning or oregano if not available, and just a small amount of Cayenne pepper (or not if you are heat challenged) and the saute' in olive oil.

I love the occasional burst of fennel flavor.

Peace

[daisy]

I've made this pasta a few times and it was really good:

Ziti with Sausage, Onions, and Fennel (http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/684)

I recommend leaving out the fennel fronds, though, because they never seem to get tender when I've used them. It's like having little fennel-flavored wires in the food.

[frugal-one]

Came across this.... sounds good too.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/white-bean-fennel-soup/detail.aspx

[terrica]

I plant fennel in the late summer and harvest it in the fall. My favorite dish is just chopped fennel, snow peas (also from the garden), and pork chops. I fry all of them in a pan in some oil oil and a little salt and pepper and it turns out amazing. I eat that dish at least once a week during fennel/pea season.

[puglogic]

I've made this pasta a few times and it was really good:

Ziti with Sausage, Onions, and Fennel (http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/684)

I recommend leaving out the fennel fronds, though, because they never seem to get tender when I've used them. It's like having little fennel-flavored wires in the food.

I do something almost exactly like this. It's absolutely fantastic. I'm a fennel convert.