citrus and garlic-herb Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together

all the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside at room

braised fennel temperature for 1 hour.

sunchoke cream • plantain powder •
fennel fronds • olive oil • fleur de sel
makes 4 servings
Make the fennel: Cut the tops off the fennel bulbs,
setting aside the fronds for garnish. Trim the bot-
toms. Quarter the fennel bulbs through the core,
leaving some of the core intact so the pieces don’t
fall apart as they cook.

In a large skillet, warm the olive oil over medium-

Yes, this is the recipe that I talked about in the
intro. Pan-seared fennel alone is yummy, but mojo-
inspired citrus and garlic-herb sauce, umami-rich
plantain powder, delicate anise-flavored fennel
fronds, rich sunchoke cream, and a drizzle of really
good olive oil elevate this to a standout dish. While
layered, this is a fairly simple dish to make. The key
is preparing some of the components (i.e., the plan-
tain powder and sunchoke cream) ahead of time so
you don’t get bogged down making garnishes. Trust
me, the payoff is BIG. If my persnickety five-year-
old likes this dish, you will love it.
high heat. When it starts to shimmer, add the
fennel quarters, cut-side down, and cook, turning
the fennel with tongs, until all the cut sides are
golden brown, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with salt,
then use the tongs to carefully transfer the fennel
to a plate.
Decrease the heat to medium-low. Pour in the
sauce and bring it to a simmer. Cook for a few
minutes just to warm through. Carefully transfer
the fennel back to the skillet and simmer, basting
and flipping the pieces every few minutes, until
tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

To serve, spoon a little of the sauce onto each

citrus and garlic-herb
sauce
1 cup fresh orange juice
¹/₄ cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon
white vinegar
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon minced
fresh parsley leaves
¹/₂ teaspoon
ground cumin
¹/₄ teaspoon kosher salt
of four small plates and top each plate with two
fennel
pieces of fennel. Garnish each with 1 tablespoon of
2 large fennel bulbs the parsley, a generous dusting of plantain powder,
with fronds
a few turns of black pepper, a pinch of orange zest,
5 tablespoons olive oil and a few of the reserved fennel fronds. Add a
Fine sea salt dollop of sunchoke cream. Drizzle with extra-virgin
olive oil, sprinkle with fleur de sel, and serve.
¹/₄ cup torn fresh
parsley leaves
¹/₂ cup Plantain Powder
(page 238)
“Afro-Cu (Bembé)” by Mongo Santamaria from What Do You Mean
Freshly ground
black pepper
1 tablespoon
orange zest
Sunchoke Cream
(page 191), for serving
Extra-virgin olive oil,
for drizzling
Fleur de sel, for finishing

51
bulbs
fennel