Fennel help: What to do with the stalks and fronds?
I love fennel and I have some great recipes, but all of them call for using only the bulb and sometimes the fronds as garnish. What can I do with the stalks and the rest of the fronds? I feel bad buying the whole plant and throwing so much of it away!
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12 Comments:
My best uses for fennel are using it in the fish steamer I chop up all the leaves and some bulb.
I chop up the bulb very fine with some fine chopped cabbage and saute it which I serve any kind of seafood cake over. MMMMM try that one.
Here where I live they only sell the bulb, so I imagine they throw the rest out. I like the fronds they are so pretty for garnish.
JerzeeTomato at 8:00PM on 11/06/07
I think you can use the fronds for stocks and infusions?
ag3208 at 8:02PM on 11/06/07
infuse olive oil with the leftover fennel, along with lemon, garlic, peppercorns
you warm (not heat) the oil, and steep the ingredients
then use it on fish - fer instance roast cod on a bed of onion and fennel, dribbled with infused lemon-fennel oil
You can also make an herb-ricotta dressing for hot pasta that uses a handful each of mint, parsley, fennel fronds, basil, arugula, whatever you like
mixed with fresh ricotta and some of the pasta cooking water
guido at 9:09PM on 11/06/07
I've done a couple of things with the stems:
Cut into sticks and utilize in a crudite.
Candy them. Cook in a simple syrup, then coat in sugar.
Grind into a stuffing with Italian Sausage and sun dried tomatoes for chicken.
cbjchef at 9:30PM on 11/06/07
Even if the recipe requires just the bulbs, I thinly slice the stalks and include them as part of the volume requirement of the fennel.
chiff0nade at 10:22AM on 11/07/07
If you're interested in Chinese cooking, there's a kind of dumpling made with minced pork and fennel fronds. I'm guessing you could probably find a recipe online.
thebasilqueen at 1:44PM on 11/07/07
IMHO, the stalks are best preserved for making a quick vegetable broth or stock. Chop off the fronds first, then store, well wrapped in freezer along w leek greens that are also good for the same purpose. Particularly good in winter squash soups whose stock you can prepare w the seeds and goo you scoop out of the cavity as long as strain the stock well.
The lacy fronds are far more versatile. Treat them as you would dillweed. Frankly, I prefer their subtle flavor. Chopped or not, they make a pretty garnish. Salad dressing or dip. If you have vast quantities, buy a wild salmon fillet, skin on. Marinate it for 1/2 hour in mixture of plain yogurt, garlic minced w a little salt and lots of washed, dried and finely chopped fennel fronds. Bake, consulting cookbook at home for oven temperature and recommendations for time.
Eliz. at 3:05PM on 11/07/07
Does anyone know how to get woodcock in New York? I want to cook it for Thanksgiving
Schlock and Awe at 3:41PM on 11/07/07
Erratum: "reserved" vs. "preserved" above.
How I wish editing one's own posts were possible here!
* * *
Schlock and Awe: Why not start your own topic to ask your question?
Eliz. at 3:53PM on 11/07/07
Like Eliz, I use the fronds like dill.
The stalks I chop on a bias and use instead of celery in recipes: soups, stir fries, stovetop paellas. They add a different, pleasing flavor and a nice crunch.
I hate to let any part of a good vegetable go to waste!
KarynMC at 9:07PM on 11/07/07
Vegetarians: What would you like to see on the Thanksgiving table?
izzy's mama at 11:25AM on 11/08/07
oops, didn't mean to post here, sorry!
izzy's mama at 11:28AM on 11/08/07