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Posts Tagged ‘fennel’
Hi there, Spring is really in the air. We have seeded an early crop of squash and also rock melon. Seedlings are now available at the markets…lettuce, spinach, rocket and beetroot to name a few. Phil is seeding various varieties of tomatoes which we hope (weather permitting) will be available mid-October. It is very exciting instead of growing just lettuce as we have in previous years – throughout the property in different stages of development we have pak choy, rocket, spinach, fennel bulbs, watercress, chinese cabbage, radich, beetroot, carrots, potatoes, snowpeas, flat beans, huge amount of herbs, sweetpea flowers. Whew – this is certainly keeping us busy.
We had a huge amount of page views on our facebook page last week…wondering if it was something to do with the Horticulture New Zealand 2010 Conference that was being held?????
I had never eaten fennel until we started growing it. Now I can’t get enough of it! Phil’s father would be horrified if he knew we were growing it. He remembers as a child his father refusing to allow his mother to cook it even though it grew wildly around their property in Favona (please note that some wild fennel is poisonous to eat). The aniseed flavour is not everyone’s cup of tea but we love it and it seems to be getting more and more popular at the markets. Some great feedback from customers this weekend about how they served it.
Here is another recipe I found in a Jamie Oliver book. We served it with fresh fish bought from the Howick market.
3 heads of fennel
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
3 large knobs of butter
2 wine glasses of white wine (or vermouth)
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 220 C. Remove any discoloured parts of the fennel, then cut the tops off and slice into four from top to root, reserving the leaves. Put all ingredients into a baking dish. Rip off a pieve of grease proof paper, run it under cold water and scrunch it up to make it soft. The place it snugly over and around the fennel, not the actual dish. Cook in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until tender. Scatter with the fennel leaves before serving.
Yum…such a simple and yet flavoursome salad. I know it’s winter but I really felt like a salad today.
Saw this recipe in one of Jaime Oliver’s books. All I did was chop up a fennel bulb and a bunch of radishes, throw them in a bowel and drizzle with an olive oil and lemon juice dressing.
The fennel bulbs and radishes are usually some of the first produce to sell out at the markets so come early next weekend to make sure you don’t miss out!
Just found this easy fennel soup recipe!
I’ve just run through the rain and collected some fennel bulbs, kale, celery, carrots, chives and tarragon to make a soup to warm us all up after a very wet and windy Clevedon farmers market today.
Melt a knob of butter in a large saucepan. Add 2 onions and 4 cloves of garlic chopped, cook untilsoft. Add 4 medium potatoes, 2 celery plants, 2 fennel bulbs, and 4 carrots all chopped. Add enough stock of your choice to cover the vegetables and simmer. When potatoes are almost cooked add 4 kale plants chopped (discard some of the hard stems) and tarragon leaves. Cook until kale is just soft and still has its bright green colour.
Blend soup in a food processor or blender and return to saucepan. Add chopped chives and season to taste.
We are all feeling very healthy after a bowl of this soup! Its a meal in itself!
How lucky we are – no frosts yet though the short sunlight hours are taking their toll. The snowpeas, spinach, rocket and silverbeet are really enjoying the autumn weather but unfortunately all the other crops have slowed down significantly. The shortest day is not far away and I have a feeling spring will be just around the corner. We have almost finished cleaning up – getting ready for the outdoor crops which will be sown during August.
Fennel bulbs are looking great and we will be bringing these into the markets this week. Let’s hope for fine weather this weekend – its always great to see the horses and model aeroplanes at the Clevedon Farmers Market.
See you.
Jenny