Saffron Fennel

This recipe also appeared in the Washington Post Food Section on Wednesday, March 18, 2009. David Hagedorn, chef. The fennel is crunchy and very tasty.

1 large fennel bulb with stalks and fronds
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t ground turmeric
1/2 t sugar
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 t finely grated lemon zest
1/4 t saffron threads

Prepare the fennel by removing and reserving the fronds. (If you are going to make this a day ahead of time, wrap the fronds in a paper towel and refrigerate them.) Remove the bulb's stalks and the outer leaves. (You can chop and saute the stalks as you would celery, and use it to make soup stalk.)

Cut the bulb in half vertically, and remove the triangle core. Slice the fennel horizontally into thin slices. (I misread the recipe and sliced it vertically. The diners still ate it enthusiastically.)

Combine the dry spices and the sugar. Put the fennel in a plastic food storage bag. Add the combined spices and the oil. Seal the bag, and mix well to completely coat the fennel. Transfer the fennel to covered microwave-safe dish. Cover the dish, and cook on high in the microwave for 5 minutes.

If you are making this dish a day ahead, cool the fennel, then refrigerate.

While the fennel is cooking, rinse the reserved fronds, and pat them dry with a paper towel. Chop the fronds as you would chop parsley.

When the fennel has cooked, remove the dish from the microwave and stir the dish contents to mix. Stir in the chopped fennel frond. Serve immediately.

Hagedorn cooks the fennel in the plastic storage bag. I did this, and the corners of the bag failed, dripping fennel juice everywhere. So I'm going to stick with cooking it in a microwave-safe dish.