Guest recipe by Barny Haughton
Orange is to fennel what cream is to strawberries. Whether combined raw – say, thinly sliced fennel and the chopped segments of an orange tossed together with a little parsley, decent olive oil, and salt – or braised like this, it’s just a very happy combination of ingredients.
This recipe is for four people, as a starter or as a brilliant accompaniment to fish or lamb dishes.
Ingredients
- 2 to 3 fennel bulbs, sliced into 6-8 wedges
- Juice of 1 to 2 oranges (you be the judge of how much – maybe 1.5?)
- A glass of dry white wine
- A bay leaf
- Good olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Method
Trim the fennel bulb of its tops and fronds and any tough outer layers. (Chop these discarded bits up, put them in fridge or freezer, and keep them to make a soup or stew or stock. You won’t regret it.)
Slice the trimmed fennel into 6 or 8 wedges, depending on the size of the bulb.
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat a little light olive or sunflower oil. Add the fennel wedges to cover the bottom of the pan and, over a medium heat, fry the fennel until the surfaces are lightly browned.
This will take about 20 minutes. It doesn’t matter if the wedges fall apart.
Next, add the freshly squeezed orange juice, the glass of dry white wine, bay leaf, and salt and pepper.
Gently mix the ingredients in the pan to ensure the fennel is well covered with the liquid.
Cover the pan with a lid and gently simmer over a low heat until the fennel is soft.
Transfer to a serving dish and add a good drizzle of decent olive oil – and maybe a sprinkling of chopped fresh parsley, if to hand.
This dish is lovely served at room temperature.
A fabulous fish and fennel dish
If you’re looking to impress, after cooking, place the braised fennel in a baking dish, and lay a whole sea bream or sea bass (about 800g of fish) on top of it that you have seasoned with salt and pepper.
Cover the fish with parchment paper and bake at 170C until the fish is cooked – usually about 25 minutes.
Serve with boiled new potatoes from Coleshill Organics, of course…
La di da.
Barny Haughton is a chef, restaurateur, cookery school teacher and Eco Food pioneer. He has run three award-winning restaurants in Bristol over the last 25 years (Rocinantes, Quartier Vert and Bordeaux Quay).
Barny is best known for his work at Square Food Foundation, Bristol’s Cookery School & Community Kitchen, where he is Director and Head Teacher, teaching people from all walks of life to cook good food.
