Chez Us » Fennel

Watermelon Radish and Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Denise Woodward — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 18:31:53 +0000

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The first time I stumbled upon watermelon radishes was on a cold winter morning at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market, over two years ago. I was searching for parsnips and thought this was it! The cheery crew at Happy Boy Farms warned me that it was a spicy radish. I had never seen a radish so …. large. She took a knife out from her back pocket and cut it open.

I was in awe. The vibrate color completely had me. I fell in love with the somewhat tie-dyed design made of the brightest pink I had ever seen. Yes, I was buying purely on beauty. I took a paper bag and filled it with different sizes and shapes. I had no idea what to expect when I got home.

Tenderly I took one of the radishes out of the crumpled bag, scrubbed the just picked dirt off, and took a big bite. The spicy juices started to run down the corner of my mouth, and I was hooked. It was like my first kiss; wet, unknown and a little bit spicy. I continued to slice a couple more, then I laid them on a plate and buttered a piece of still warm baguette. I put a couple vibrate slices onto the creamy butter and sprinkled Maldon salt over the top. It was perfect.

Since that first “kiss” some two years ago, watermelon radishes grace our winter table very often. As an afternoon snack or mixed with tender greens for a dinner salad. Now that, we are working from home, full-time, I am on the look-out for simple but delicious lunches. This salad is one of our favorites. It is full of sweet fennel and spicy watermelon radishes with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh squeezed Meyer lemons. It screams spring time; doesn’t it?

Recipe: Watermelon Radish and Fennel Salad with Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

* serves two

1 medium sized fennel, green fronds removed
3 small – medium sized watermelon radishes
drizzle good quality olive oil
1 Meyer Lemon
maldon salt
black pepper

Using a mandoline, slice the fennel and radishes into thin slices. Scatter onto a plate. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top. Using a lemon reamer, juice the lemon over the top. Sprinkle maldon salt and black pepper over the salad. Serve. Eat.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2012. | Permalink | 11 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Fennel, Happy Boy Farms, Lunch, Salad, Watermelon Radish

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Earthy Delights

Denise — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:47:22 +0000

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As a regular reader of our food site, you know how we have been loving the products over at Earthy Delights. The package David sent us is the gift that keeps on giving. We are still enjoying the fresh ramp as a tasty pesto. It makes a wonderful quick and easy dinner. Boil some pasta, drain and then mix in a tablespoon of the frozen pesto.

Earthy Delights is America’s Premier supplier of specialty foods to top chefs. They use overnight delivery to make sure the freshest produce arrives from the farm to their kitchens in the shortest amount of time possible. The wonderful team over at Earthy Delights is now offering the same high quality products to you, the home chef.

We want you to be able to experience all the wonderful things we have the past couple of months, minus the Ramps, sorry they are out of season now. Earthy has tons of fantastic items from the famed Aged Black Garlic to exotic vanilla products – there truly is something for everyone! We have teamed together with David over at Earthy Delights and are excited to offer you the “Chez Us discount”. Readers of Chez Us, have until August 1, 2009, to use unlimited 15% discounts on anything in the store. This discount will apply to everything except taxes and shipping costs.

So, what are you waiting for? There are wonderful things from Fresh European Truffles to fresh Michigan Cherries, to wet your appetite and tantalize your taste-buds.

In order to use your coupon, you will need to add all your goodies to your basket and right before you finish your check out you will be asked for a coupon code, just enter: CHEZUS15% and the 15% will be deducted from your total, before taxes and shipping. Have fun shopping!

Some of our favorites are:

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Post tags: Aged Black Garlic, Avocado Oil, Balsamic Cream, Chestnut, Earthy Delights, Fennel, Fennel Pollen, Honey, Morels, Pasta, Pesto, Ramps

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Fava Bean and Fennel Salad

Denise — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:07:39 +0000

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Fava beans otherwise known as broad beans, faba bean, or field bean are native to North Africa and South Asia; but, they do grow very well in European countries as well as the states. It is believed that the Fava became part of the Mediterranean diet around 6000 BC or earlier. The Fava is very versatile, you can fry them and salt for a snack, add them to stews, or even eat with breakfast, the choices are really unlimited, just use your imagination.

Laudalino loves fava beans; they are right up there with the “runny egg”. We usually eat them in one of his favorite Portuguese dishes, as a salad with shaved paramesan or as an addition to soups or stews. We are lucky that there is a farmer in Half Moon Bay who grows them, most of the spring and into summer. We recently picked up 5 pounds of them, along with some fresh baby fennel to make a late spring time salad. I love the combination of mint with peas so I decided to make a light dressing using this as part of the base – it went really well with the favas as well as the fennel. The fennel gave the dish a nice refreshing flavor.

The drawback of fava beans is that you do need to peel them twice. The first is rather simple as you will merely need to shuck them from their outer pod. You will be left with a bean inside a slightly tougher membrane. I have found that the easiest way to get to the sweet little fava is by gently boiling them in water for about 3 – 5 minutes and then gently popping them out of this tough outer skin. It really is not that difficult but rather time consuming; well, worth it, in our opinion!

This recipe is a wonderful side for a nice piece of firm white fish or chicken.

Recipe: Fava Bean & Fennel Salad

5 pounds fava beans, see instructions above for how to prepare

2 small fennel, leafy tops removed. sliced thinly

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons mint, minced

sea salt, to taste

fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Prepare the fava beans. In a jar, shake together the olive oil, vinegar and mint. Lightly toss the favas with the fennel and the dressing. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Serve. Eat.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Broad Bean, Faba Bean, Fava Bean, Fennel, Field Bean, Healthy, Mint, Recipe, Salads

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Pork Tenderloin with Fennel

Denise — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 04:17:40 +0000

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A delightful dish of roasted Pork Tenderloin and fennel scented with Rosemary and served on a bed of baby Spinach. A wonderful Spring time dinner.

The next couple of weeks our posts are going to be short and sweet as we have so much going on at work – it is actually very insane! We do still have to eat and have some very tasty and easy meals planned. Our first one includes “the other white meat”, Pork. Even though we love pork tenderloin, we never seem to make it that often. We really should as it is the leanest and healthiest of the pork cuts. As well it has less fat than chicken and twice the amount of iron. Not only is it good for us but you can do so many different things with it, from roasting or grilling or even stir frying. Tonight I made an easy dish of roasted fennel and pork tenderloin which was tossed with spinach. It was very light and very flavorful. If you love pork and fennel, this is a fantastic combination.

Recipe: Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Rosemary

*Adapted from Donna Hay

1 fennel bulb, trimmed & roughly chopped

1 red onion, chopped

4 gloves garlic, minced

4 springs of rosemary

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra, for brushing

1 lb pork tenderloin

sea salt

fresh cracked black pepper

baby spinach leaves, to serve

Preheat oven to 400 (200 c). Place fennel, onion, garlic, rosemary and oil in a baking dish, toss to coat. Cook for 15 minutes. Brush the pork with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a medium frying pan over high heat, add the pork and cook for 2 minutes each side or until browned. Place the pork in the baking dish on top of the fennel mixture and roast for a further 15 minutes or until the fennel is tender and the pork is cooked through. Slice pork and toss with the vegetables and baby spinach leaves to serve. Eat.

© Denise for Chez Us, 2009. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Baby Spinach, Donna Hay, Easy Dinner, Fennel, Pork, Pork Tenderloin, Recipe, Red Onion, Rosemary, Spinach

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Fennel and Blood Orange Salad

Denise — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:38:21 +0000

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We love Fennel. We really started using it a lot a couple years ago. It is so versatile. You can eat it raw as a snack. Toss it into a salad. Roast it and add it to your mashed potatoes, make a lovely soup, bake it into a Galette, turn it into a creamy risotto inspired dish; the possibilities are endless. The taste is very unique. A bit of black licorice that is slightly green. Very refreshing.

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Read the rest of Fennel and Blood Orange Salad (174 words)

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Post tags: Blood Orange, Fennel, Fish and Seafood, Salads, Sea Bass

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Wild Arugula Salad

Denise Woodward — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 02:20:12 +0000

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with fennel and pomegranate and a light balsamic dressing. We have had company in town all weekend, which is always a great excuse to cook more than we usually would. My sister and her friend are running a half marathon on Sunday, so we decided to carb them up with a pasta dish made with slow roasted chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes. For dessert I made a very rich apple bread pudding with burnt caramel sauce. Lots of carbs and lots of goodness! *did not get any photos, except of the salad, which was healthy and very good!

© Denise for Chez Us, 2008. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Arugula, Dinner, Fennel, Pomergrante, Recipe, Salads

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Eat Local Challenge | Cream of Fennel Soup

dwoodward20 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:27:37 +0000

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I stumbled upon TS & JS’s food blog, [eatingclub] vancouver and drooled over their Cream of Fennel Soup – YUM! After, last nights over indulgence, we decided it was a good night for soup – soothing soup!

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Read the rest of Eat Local Challenge | Cream of Fennel Soup (128 words)

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Post tags: Bacon, Dinner, Eat Local Challenge, Fennel, Organic Food, Recipe, Soup

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Tuesdays with Dorie | Savory Galette

Denise Woodward — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 01:46:50 +0000

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While the TWD crowd was making sweet summery and fruity Galette’s last week, we were traveling. I had Galette on the brain! We love peach ones, plum ones, fig ones, berry ones, you name it, we love it! Tonight I decided to try to make a savory one for dinner. Something light. Something veggie.

I used a basic Pate Brisee; but, I put a handful of fresh rosemary into the flour! For the filling I cooked some garlic and yellow onions just until lightly browned, then I added thinly sliced fennel and Portabella Mushrooms, and a sprinkle of white wine. I cooked it just until everything was warmed and slightly limp. Then I wrapped it nicely in the Pate Brisee, baked and served with a simple green salad and a glass of white wine.

Lenny’s two cents: Delicious! Really good! It did not even need any hot sauce!

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Post tags: Baking, Easy Dinner, Fennel, Food Blogging Event, Galette, Portabella, Recipe, Savory, Tuesdays with Dorie, TWD

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Roasted Fennel Rice (otto)

Denise Woodward — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:16:24 +0000

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The past few months we have been big Fennel fans – love it so much that we are going to attempt to grow it this year, eeks! We love it sliced up raw in our mouths or in a salad, slow cooked with a chicken or now, roasted with shallots and garlic for the topping of a rice (otto) dish I had been dreaming up while on the treadmill – I do some of my most creative cooking thinking while working out!

Risotto also known as Arborio is a staple in our house. I ALWAYS have at least a cup of it in the “pantry” so that I can whip up a nice basic Risotto when in a pinch as what we should eat. Why should this night be any different?

I poured a nice glass of wine, turned on some Sade (it was just that kind of night) and started the prep work of roasting my sweet little fennel. Smells of licorice, garlic and shallots filled our house and they were caramelizing perfectly! Now it was time to heat up my stock and start the meditating process of cooking the risotto.

Where was it? Not where it should be. It should be somewhere is our tiny pantry. I tore it up, no where. Just a cup of brown rice. S#*&! I had a great filling and hot broth, what the heck I would give it a whirl. After, what seemed liked minutes, I realized this would never work. Rice does not make risotto. Tossed in the broth and slow cooked it. Luckily, it was somewhat soft and creamy rice so I tossed in a pat of butter and a little Parmesan at the end and topped the mixture with the lovely caramelized fennel. On the upside the nuttiness of the brown rice went nicely with the fennel and cheese. Not risotto but a darn good dish of rice (otto)

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Vegtable Soup with Fennel, Herbs and Parmesan Broth

dwoodward20 — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 10:23:00 +0000

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I was inspired by this recipe on Food & Wine as I was looking for something “good” and light. Well, it was light but not that good – too bland and too many leeks (I thought I could hid them from L. since there was so much fennel in there … I am BAD – he really HATES them & I realized just how much tonight)! So, after all, it was not comfort food but rather, “mental note, never cook another leek!”

At least Dessert saved the day …. homemade chocolate cake and cookies and cream ice cream – a happy belated bday celebration for L. from our little friends, M., E., and M.!

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Fennel and Wild Rice Salad

dwoodward20 — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 09:59:00 +0000

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We are on the road to light, easy and tasty this week! Fennel and rice salad – tangy and very tasty (not to mention very easy)! I should had served a nice warm crusty loaf of bread with it but did not have time to pick one up today. Dessert … some simple cubes of a wonderfully fresh cantaloupe!

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Grilled Branzini

dwoodward20 — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 19:20:00 +0000

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Friday night we finally had a warm enough evening to take advantage of the deck – it has been a long time!

Woked a veggie stir fry – red & purple bell peppers, zucchini, yellow patty pan squash and some young red onions. Very simple with some olive oil and then a sprinkling of a new Tuscan salt. The highlight was a grilled Branzini, which I stuffed with a mixture of fennel, red onion, oregano and Meyer lemon – first time grilling and eating a Branzini, it was wonderful – peeled off nicely from the skin & bones, it was light, moist and very flavorful!

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Post tags: BBQ, Branzini, Fennel, Meyer Lemon, Oregano, Red Onion, Seasoned Sea Salt, Summer Squash

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