Making a base camp (overlooked vegetables part 2)

Now let's turn our attention to another overlooked vegetable - Fennel. Unless you've had the privilege of eating at a traditional Mediterranean family's home, you've probably never had this delicious licorice tasting vegetable (sometime known as winter celery.) It's something different and you should add it to your repertoire (and just because you're you - I'll even throw in a second recipe.)

Ingredients

* 2 fennel bulbs (thick base of stalk)
* 2 tablespoons of oil (canola or olive - use the olive the calorie difference isn't that great)
* Balsamic vinegar
* Kosher salt
* Pepper


Tools

* Sharp utility knife
* Cutting board
* Aluminum foil
* Large baking tray
* Tongs
* Medium size mixing bowl


Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. (Remember, I said that you could roast these during roasting of the beets.)

Cut off the stalks and fronds of the fennel bulb (save them for another use - roast them with fish or chicken, beat unruly children with them.) Cut each fennel bulb in half vertically, slicing through the root end. Then cut each half in half, keeping the root core intact, about 1/2 inch thick slices (again OCD sufferers - 7/16 of an inch - make a mental note to send your Congressperson a stern letter about the need to adopt the metric system.) The slices may or may not stay together - that's life - don't sweat it.

Put your cut fennel slices in the mixing bowl, add your oil and season with kosher salt and pepper to taste. Don't add so much salt that you give yourself high blood pressure. Toss well. (Remember these steps, we're going to come back to them for our next recipe.)

Lay out piece of fennel onto baking tray and roast for 30-35 minutes. If you have both the beets and the fennel in the oven at the same time - you deserve a drink. Halfway through the cooking time, turns the fennels pieces over. Remind yourself about the joke Saint Lawrence told during his martyrdom. Remind yourself how strange you are that you know jokes about saints roasting to death.

Roast until the fennel is cooked through and beginning to caramelize and get crispy around the ends (but don't let them burn.)

Remove from the oven and add back to the mixing bowl (the fennel is burning hot - do you think any germs have a chance. Alright, if you're going to be that way - rinse out the bowl first.) Add a splash of balsamic vinegar, if you want, toss and serve.

OK - say you don't want another roasted item for your Thanksgiving spread (I won't hold it against you), here's a simple yet very tasty salad -

Ingredients

* 2 fennel bulbs (thick base of stalk)
* 1 medium sized juice orange (if you can find one, a blood orange would be great)
* 1 small red onion
* 3 tablespoons of olive oil (it's Sicilian; you have to use olive oil.)
* Kosher salt
* Pepper


Tools

* Sharp utility knife
* Cutting board
* Vegetable peeler
* Tongs
* Medium size mixing bowl

Instructions

Cut off the stalks and fronds of the fennel bulb (save them for another use - roast them with fish or chicken, beat unruly children with them.) Cut each fennel bulb in half vertically, slicing through the root end. Then cut each half in half, keeping the root core intact, about 1/4 inch thick slices (this should seem like déjà vu, if you read the other fennel recipe, except for the fact that you've cut the fennel slices about 1/16 inch thinner.) The slices may or may not stay together - that's life, don't sweat it. Peel the small red onion and slice thinly (as thin as you can without recreating Dan Aykroyd's Julia Child skit.) Set aside. And again, if raw onions bother you, soak them in ice water until you're ready to use. If raw onions really bother you, don't use them (again, I'm not in your home at the moment, what do I know.)

Now we come to what will seem like an impossible silly task but hey it's cooking. You will need to cut the segments of the orange from the orange without their skin - this is called supreming an orange (and no, you are not forming a music group with your fruit.)

This is one of the only recipes that I will suggest that you refrain from drinking (until you have been drinking and cooking for at least 30 or more years.) Shear off the top so that the orange flesh is just visible. I can't tell you how thick a slice that will be - I don't know what orange you're using - nut up (remember this is a Sicilian salad - it's a man's world.) Now cut off the same amount from the bottom so that the orange sits flat. You have a choice at this point. You can a.) cut from top to bottom curving the knife to the shape of the orange, until you've removed all of the peel and pith (white flesh) of the orange, or, if you're a nervous Nelly with a knife, b.) Use a good peeler and remove the peel and pith.

Next, cut in between the white sections, placing your knife as close to the white membrane as possible, and slicing to the core. Once you reach the core, bring the knife blade up along the opposing membrane wall and remove the segment. Repeat until you've removed all of the segments, transferring them into your mixing bowl. Set aside the orange corpse (we'll need it later.)

Put your cut fennel slices in the mixing bowl with the orange segments. Drain your onion slices, pat dry and add them into the bowl. Gently squeeze your orange corpse to extract any juice into a small bowl. Add a tablespoon of the juice, olive oil, season with kosher salt and pepper and gently toss.

Plate and serve. (At this point you deserve a drink.)