They Came from Mars

Yesterday, I found myself staring awkwardly at a giant fennel bulb. Its strange bulbous shape and tall, green, fuzz-topped stalks suggested its origin to be some foreign planet rather than the neighboring farm stand. My mom had asked me to prepare dinner but the only vegetables to be found were a dozen tomatoes and this. The tomatoes were exciting but fennel?? What was I supposed to do with that?

My initial reluctance to engage with fennel evaporated when I realized this would be an extreme exercise in listening to food. I had never cooked this plant before so I had no idea what spices and herbs would make it sing. I would have to let fennel guide me in the spice department. Fennel and I eyed each other warily. Would we get along?

After severing those strange stalks and scrubbing the bulb clean, I laid it out on a cutting board of dark wood. I admired its elegant curves; the way its white surface nearly glowed in the late afternoon light, luminescent against the darkness of the cutting board. Clean, strong and sensuous at the same time. I lowered a knife against its surface and watched as the first slice of fennel fell away in a delicate backwards swan dive. A sweet, high, nearly prickly smell rose into the air and tickled my nose. It was not unlike licorice but also had a hint of something like pinewoods. Interesting.

But how would I mix it with tomato?

A few minutes later, tomato and fennel simmered happily in a big pan along with some shallots and the only tiny half of a garlic clove I had managed to find. Hmmm how to season fennel… I started with easier task of making tomato a little brighter and more solid. Thyme and oregano sprinkled down into the pan. Then rosemary and sage were called upon to bridge the gap between fennel’s piney sharpness and tomato’s sweet fullness. Dried fennel seed helped ground the fresh fennel slices and bring out the robustness of the dish. Finally, I decided that if the licorice-y smell of fennel reminded me of baked goods, I should just go with that. Which of the cookie spices would work well with both tomato and fennel? Cloves!

I put the contents of the pan into a baking dish and topped the whole thing with the croutons that I had meanwhile been preparing. Salty and aromatic of fresh herbs, they would provide a contrast/compliment to the main dish. Bake for 15 minutes and sprinkle with parmesan if so desired.

As for fennel and me? We rode off happily into the sunset and lived happily ever after.

Fennel and Tomato Gratin

Gratin

- 5 normal sized tomatoes (or 3 large)

- 1 fennel bulb

- 3/4 large shallots

- 1 clove garlic

- 1 tablespoon lemon juice

- half teaspoon fennel seed

- rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme

-1/2 teaspoon ground cloves (careful not to overdo it!)

- tiniest pinch ground red pepper

- salt & pepper

Topping

- several slices bread

- 2 tbs minced bacon (optional)

- olive oil

- 1 shallot

- a few sprigs rosemary

- 7/8 leaves fresh sage

- 1 clove garlic (didn't have any when i made this dish but always recommend it for croutons)

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan and brown the minced shallots for a minute or two.

2. Remove the stalks from the fennel, scrub it clean, slice it thin and add to the pan.

3. Dice the tomatoes and add these to the pan.

4. Add various herbs, spices, lemon juice.

5. Cook partially covered over medium heat until the fennel softens up a bit. Probably about 15 minutes or so

6. Meanwhile, heat up another pan for the croutons. Sautee the bacon, garlic and shallots in a little olive oil to make the oil very flavorful.

7. Chop the bread into roughly 1 inch sized croutons and toss the croutons into the pan.

8. The heat should be relatively high so as to get the croutons crispy but not so high as to burn things.

9. Use a half teaspoon or more of salt. I consider croutons to be glorified french fries so I tend to oversalt :p Use your judgement.

10. Preheat oven to 400 F

11. Pour the tomato fennel mexture into a baking dish.

12. Top with croutons when they are appropriately delicious and crispy

13. Sprinkle a little pepper over everything and pop it into the oven!

14. Bake for about 20 minutes.

When Fennel and I become Friends