Fennel Salad with Dry Jack

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kadesma

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Simple crisp, Makes a lovely salad dressed with just fresh lemon juice and evoo salt and fresh cracked black pepper. If you like the taste if mild licorice or Tarragon, you'll love this salad with steak, lamb, pork give it a try.
Cut 3 med, fennel bulbs crosswise in very thin slivers. Place it in a med. bowl. Drizzle it with 3 Tab. evoo and toss quickly then addthe juice of 1/2 of a fresh lemon toss again. Season with salt and pepper. Divide the salad onto individual salad plates. Take a veggie peepler and cut curls of your favorite dry hard cheese, I use a dry Jack garnish the rest of the plate with sprigs of fennel if you wish. Enjoy this salad nice and cold. it's yummy with warm French bread. or foccacia.
kadesma
 
Sounds lovely Kades :) Won't be able to try it for a while since we don't get fennel in supermarkets here but I'll give it a bash when I go to the farmers market. Thay have it sometimes.
 
Sounds wonderful. I can never get it to form right in my garden, so have to get it from the grocery store, and it really isn't usually available. I was first introduced to fennel when a friend called me when I lived in Port Orange and asked if I could get it at my local grocery, which was more upscale than his. It was a laugh because earlier in the season I bought a few plants from the "ready to toss it" pile at a local nursery, it turned out beautiful, and I had no idea what to do with it. (He braised it in white wine).
 
Claire--I can't get mine to "bulb" either. I am wondering if the plants have to be banked like celery to blanch the bulb? I've grown it from seeds and nursery plants, same results. I do like using the fronds and adding chopped fennel bulb to chicken stock (as well as a bouquet garni of pickling spice) makes an amazing chicken (or turkey) soup base. And grated fennel is a must when making Jo Anne's Granny's Porchetta.
 
I think someone here at DC told me that there are different kinds of fennel. Can't remember if that person said it was a male vs. female plant thing or variety. But I've never gotten anything but the leafy herbs. Good, but a stronger flavor than the bulb.
 
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