Fennel and potatoes in tomato sauce

Having looked at beautiful savoury mini muffins with garlic scapes on Choclette's blog Tin and Thyme, I popped into the garden to see if I can find any scapes. Nope, just as I thought, they'd come later in summer, in mid-July. I still picked a few green garlic leaves for the fennel and potato dish.
I planted garlic a few years ago on the strawberry patch as a preventive measure against slugs, and now find it growing in the most bizarre places in the garden. The slugs were undeterred, but the garlic stayed.

I had in mind cooking patatas bravas for dinner tonight, but there was lovely fennel at a reduced price in Waitrose, and I got a couple of bulbs. So, it's not exactly patatas bravas, but this dish is inspired by the classic Spanish recipe.

400g new potatoes, skins on
3tbsp olive oil
2 medium fennel bulbs
smoked sea salt
1tbsp smoked paprika
1tsp finely chopped parsley
1tbsp butter
1 tin of tomato fillets in tomato juice (Cirio Filetti)
2tbsp chopped garlic greens

Cut new potatoes into chunks and parboil them in salted boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain the water. Slice fennel bulbs and place them into a big roast tin or ceramic dish. Scatter the potatoes on top. Add the olive oil, season with smoked sea salt and paprika and mix well.
Add a little bit of butter. Chop the garlic greens (or swap for a garlic clove) and fresh parsley, and scatter over the veg. Pour the contents of tomato fillets in tomato juice over the vegetables as well as half a tin of water.
Place the dish in the oven preheated to 180C. Cook for 30+ minutes until the potatoes are soft.
If you like it hot, add more paprika or chilli flakes. 1tbsp of paprika gives it a flavour rather than heat. And smoked paprika has a beautiful flavour.

This dish could make a lovely vegetarian meal, serve it with a chunky bread.
It will also make a tasty side dish to go with meat or fish.

In this recipe I used Cirio Filetti, but any other tinned Cirio product would work well in this dish.

Turkey steaks in sweet wine and mushroom sauce - #TurkeyTractorChallenge

Cooking challenges are always great fun. If you follow my blog, or even dip in from time to time, you might have noticed my love of blogger challenges. Recently British Turkey and Red Tractor have teamed up and invited bloggers to create a recipe, using British turkey and a range of Red Tractor approved ingredients.
The winner will receive £250 of supermarket vouchers and will have their award presented to them at the British Turkey Awards at the Sheraton Park lane hotel in September.
The current theme of the challenge is "Best of British". The competition closes on 26th of August, so if you fancy taking part, you'd better hurry (T&Cs can be found on British Turkey site).

I used a generic "dessert wine" ingredient in the list, as it could also be cooked with a marsala, sweet sherry, or any other dessert wine.
It is easy to make, and the sauce adds a rich note to the healthy low-calorie turkey steaks.
Fennel has been known in this country since the days of the Romans, its flavour and aroma complement many meat dishes. Mushrooms are another of my favourite ingredients.

Turkey steaks in sweet wine and mushroom sauce
Ingredients:
turkey steaks (about 400g+)
3tbsp olive oil + more for sauce
2 heaped tbsp flour
salt, black pepper
200g button mushrooms, sliced
2tbsp butter
120ml chicken stock
120ml sweet dessert wine
1tsp cornflour
1 fennel, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1tsp lemon juice
dried thyme and basil

In a wide bowl mix together flour with salt and pepper. Dip the turkey steaks in the bowl and shake off the excess flour.
In a large skillet, cook the turkey steaks in olive oil for about 7 minutes or so on each side until the steaks are cooked through. Remove the steaks, place on a plate and cover to keep warm.
Slice the mushrooms, cook with more oil + butter in the same skillet where you cooked turkey. Add the chicken stock (about 1 flat teaspoon of chicken stock powder diluted in 120ml hot water), and the dessert wine. Cook on low for about 10 minutes, stirring until the liquid has reduced.
Dissolve 1tsp of cornflour in cold water, stir well and add to the sauce. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice in the sauce as well.
In the meantime slice the fennel and red onion and cook with oil in a frying pan, stirring frequently. Add some dried herbs.
Serve the turkey steaks with the fennel and onion side dish. Serve the mushroom sauce over the steaks.
It would also go well with mashed potatoes, but as it is summer, I opted for a lighter vegetable side dish.
A green salad is another alternative.

Disclosure: I was invited to take part in the cooking challenge with a future refund for the ingredients, that is if I manage to find my receipt, me being so disorganised.

Pickled fennel

A few days ago, when I saw some fennel at a reduced price in Waitrose, I grabbed a couple of bulbs. I had a "cunning plan" in mind of making a jar of fresh pickled fennel. Having a good googling around, I came across a really nice recipe on Strawberryplum blog - Quick pickled fennel. Her recipe became my starting point. I have adapted it a bit and changed some ingredients. I recommend reading Sarah's blog post as apart from the recipe, she has some great suggestions on the ways of using the pickled fennel.
Me, I just eat it straight from the jar, picking it out with a fork. It's cold, crunchy, fresh, aromatic and just plain tasty.

:
Pickled fennel
Ingredients:
2 bulbs of fennel (about 375g)
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/4tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp pickling spice (coriander seeds, allspice, peppercorn, bay leaf etc)
1 bay leaf
300ml vinegar (malt and cyder vinegar half-half)
230ml water
125g granulated sugar
3tsp sea salt
a handful of fresh dill
a handful of baby tomatoes (optional)

Slice your fennel very thinly, if you have a mandolin slicer, now it's a good time to take it out of the hiding place. In a small pan quickly toast a scattering of fennel and mustard seeds. Add the pickling spice too.
In a medium bowl heat up vinegar, all the spices and water, bring to boil and simmer until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
Place a handful of fresh dill at the bottom of a medium sized jar, then pack in the sliced fennel tightly. The jar should be pasteurized in advance. Pour the pickling liquid in a jar through a sieve. You might have some liquid left. I had about half a mug of brine left, and used it to pickle a big onion bulb. I have also added a handful of baby tomatoes at the very top, just because we have a glut of tomatoes in the greenhouse.
Let the sealed/closed jar cool down before placing it in the fridge. The pickles will be ready in 24 hours.

And now we're talking business. Add to any salads, or as a side dish to roast meat or fish. I will definitely be pickling more fennel, a jar at a time, so that I can enjoy it freshly pickled.

Parnsip and fennel soup with caramelised chestnuts

This morning when Eddie and I walked to school through the fields (it's a longer way but much more beautiful and also you avoid the mad traffic with all the pollution for half of the walk), the ground with low lying grass was white with frost. Not surprising really, as it's almost the end of November. On the way back home I popped in Waitrose to get some fresh bread, and saw the most gorgeous plump fennel bulbs. I grabbed one to make some parsnip and fennel soup.

Parsnip and fennel soup with caramelised chestnuts
Ingredients:
2 medium parnsips, peeled and cubed
1 big fennel bulb, sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 banana shallot, halved
2cm of ginger root, grated
2 tbsp vegetable stock powder (I used Marigold Swiss Vegetable Bouillon powder)
100ml semi-skimmed milk
200g whole chestnuts, cooked and peeled (e.g. Merchant Gourmet)
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
1tbsp maple syrup
Slice the fennel, peel and cube parsnips, and halve a shallot. Place the vegetables in a small tray, drizzle with the olive oil and roast for half an hour in the oven at 180C.
Open a packet of cooked whole chestnuts, cut each one in half. Put the chestnuts in another small roasting tray or dish, drizzle with the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup, mix well to coat all pieces. Roast in the oven for half an hour at 180C.

Remove the vegetables from the oven, put them in a medium sized pan, cover with water. Add the vegetable stock powder or stock cube. Add the milk, the grated ginger and bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or so. Whizz the soup with the blender.

Serve the soup with the chestnuts (they sink in). 

That's proper comfort food - sweet and savoury.

Adding my recipe to Vegetable Palette Linky on A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table blog run by Shaheen. Theme of the month: White vegetables.