Fennel and Halibut

Almost everyone at the farmers market had fennel this week, so I decided to try this ingredient out. I've never cooked with fennel before, although I've seen it numerous times on TV and such. I nibbled on the leaves to figure out the flavor, and I instantly thought of soup. So here's what I came up with.



Ingredients (serves about 4):

1 bulb large fennel
½ bulb large white onion (thinly sliced)
5-6 large shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
6-8 white mushrooms (sliced)

2 cups chicken stock
3 cups some other stock (I made a scallop/mushroom stock)

also: sea salt, fresh ground pepper, parsley, oregano, olive oil, garlic powder

Prepare the fennel:

Cut the fennel lengthwise, drizzle heavily with olive oil. Season sparingly with sea salt, black pepper and oregano. Bake at about 350º for about 30 minutes, keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn completely. Bake it enough so its soft and tender, but not overcooked so it still has a little bit of firmness on the outside. Remove it from heat and let it cool so you can cut it.

Cooking:

In a medium sized pot, sautee onions and mushrooms with the olive oil, seasoning with salt and pepper. After cooking these for a little bit, slice up the fennel like an onion and add to the mix. After a few more minutes, the salt should have pulled out a lot of the water, add the soup stocks. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, letting all the flavors mix and become harmonious. Take off heat, put the mix into a blender and pulse it briefly just to chop it up a little more and you can pour the soup directly into bowls from here. Finely chop up some parsley and sprinkle on top, and you're done.





To go with the soup, I decided to make one of my favorites, a halibut bake. This one is really easy.

Ingredients (1 serving):

fresh halibut
2-3 white mushrooms (sliced)
2-3 shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
1/4 pack of enoki mushrooms (sperated)
1/8 bulb white onion (thinly sliced)
fennel leaves

also: sea salt, black pepper, lemon slice, white wine, mayonnaise

Cooking:

On sizable sheet of foil, place the halibut in the middle. Season with salt and pepper, and turn up the sides of the foil to make something that will resemble a boat (think water tight, after baking there will be a lot of liquid). Throw the onions and mushrooms all around and on top the fish, season a little more with salt and pepper. Add about ½ tablespoon of mayo on top, splash with about a tablespoon of white wine, throw a small stalk of fennel leaf and the lemon slice on top. Close off the top of the foil boat, and bake at 350º for about 20 minutes. When you remove from the oven, if you hear the liquid sizzling/boiling, thats confirmation that it's done. Be careful because the liquid will be hot. Carefully open the foil (steam will be hot too), and you can eat directly. Bon appetit!



* A little fresh ground black pepper on top of the soup adds a nice finishing touch.
* For people who like acid, squeeze some extra lemon on top of the halibut right before eating.
* Complements to Jon who made a nice bruschetta as an appetizer.