Yes, I'm having a fennel obsession at the moment. What about it? It could be worse! I've also been making things a bit in advance because I am going to have my long-awaited (20 years!) cataract operation at the end of this week, and don't want to be distracting myself with cooking. No interruptions to the anxious obsessing! But I think it is, in fact, now a bit late to find local fennel.
I've done a lot of delicious things with fennel recently, but this may be the absolute best of the bunch. Of course, it's got mushrooms, and it's got cheese, so no surprise there. I love those things even more as much as fennel. Add some crunchy bread crumbs, and YUM. I think the touch of fenugreek is what really makes this, so don't leave it out!
Serve this with some fairly plain chicken or fish, or as part of a vegetarian ensemble.
4 servings
45 minutes - 15 minutes prep time
Prepare the Topping:
1/2 cup coarse bread crumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup grated Gouda or Emmentaler type cheese
Rub the butter into the crumbs, and mix in the grated cheese. Set aside until needed.
Prepare the Vegetables & Bake:
2 medium bulbs of fennel
125 grams oyster mushrooms
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup 10% cream
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Wash and trim the fennel bulb, discarding the tough upper stems and core. Slice it fairly thinly. Clean and trim the mushrooms, discarding any tough stems and damaged bits. Chop them coarsely. Arrange the fennel and mushrooms in a shallow baking dish that will hold them to a layer of about an inch deep. Intersperse them with small cubes of the butter.
Grind the fenugreek, cumin, and black pepper with the salt, and put the spices in a small bowl with the flour. Slowly mix in the cream to make a smooth paste. Drizzle this over the prepared vegetables. Sprinkle the crumb and cheese topping evenly over them.
Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes until the topping is browned and crisp and the fennel is tender.
Last year at this time I made Squash Kibbeh.
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