FENNEL*****Braised Fennel - Anthony Sedlak

By Unblond1

I liked this very much and ate 1/2 a head of fennel by myself. It's relatively easy too, not too fussy for a weeknight.
Dan will NOT eat this!!

Ingredients

• 1/2 large fennel bulb or 1 whole smaller one
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 2 tbsp. white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds or good pinch fennel pollen
• pinch of Herbes d'Provence
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tbsp. pernod
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Step 1

* *Preheat* oven to 450. *Trim* any rough discoloured edges on fennel. *Cut* bulb in half then into four wedges, leaving core intact. (He removed the outer leaves - judgment call each time you make it, depending on the condition of the outer leaves)

* *Heat* 1 tbsp olive oil in a large oven safe pan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then *brown* fennel slices well, *turning* over once, 3-4 minutes total.

* *Add* fennel seed or pollen, salt and pepper, chicken stock, pernod and white wine. *Braise*, partially covered, in oven until fennel is tender, 15-20 minutes. (It took longer than this, at least 1/2 hour, and was still very, very soupy. I started to reduce it further on the stove but ran out of time. I'd prefer a saucier end result so I've cut the liquids in half, see if that works the next time. *Season* with salt and pepper to taste.

*NUTRITION:*

* Calories - 111.6
* Fat - 7.0
* Sat Fat - 0.9
* Carbs - 5.3
* Fibre - 3.1
* Protein - 2.0
* 2 Points