The fennel has flourished in the garden this year, so I have been looking for ways to incorporate it into our meals. Here's my favourites so far:
Fennel + Lamb Shank Stew 2 fennel bulbs 2 stalks of celery 1 large onion 3-4 medium sized lamb shanks (or 4 large slices of lamb neck) 3 garlic cloves 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary fresh zest of 1 lemon 1/2 cup white wine 4 cups stock (vegetable/chicken/beef) ---- For the fennel gremolata: Small handful each of parsley and fresh fennel leaves + mince finely with the zest + 2 garlic gloves. Combine in a small jug with the juice of 1 lemon (the one you just zested) and 1/4 cup olive oil. Stir to combine with a fork. Chop onions, fennel and celery into thin slices. In a heavy-based saucepan/stewing pot, gently sauté onions, fennel and celery for around 5 minutes. Remove vegetables onto a plate and add a splash of olive oil to the pot. Next add the lamb shanks, turning each side quickly until it is browned. Return vegetables to the pot along with minced garlic, chopped rosemary, lemon zest, wine and broth. Simmer on a low-heat for 1.5-3 hours (you can go longer with a slow-cooker). Check after 1 hour and top up with more broth if necessary; you want your shanks to be just-covered in liquid to prevent them drying out. Serve stew with steamed rice or mash potato. Garnish with the fennel gremolata. Apple + Fennel Slaw 1 fennel bulb 1 large apple 2 spring onions 2 carrots small head of ice-berg lettuce or green cabbage (I used the former here) mix of fresh greens and lettuce leaves, baby beetroot leaves etc large handful each of fresh mint, parsley and chives Shred fennel bulb. Peel and slice apple into thin strips. Do the same with the carrot or grate like I did here. Shred ice-beg lettuce or cabbage if using. Chop herbs and spring onions finely. Toss everything together in a large mixing bowl with the green leaves. ---- For the dressing: 1/2 cup homemade mayonnaise (sour cream or creme fraiche works well too) 2 tablespoons olive oil juice of an orange or a large lemon (orange adds a lovely sweet note) 2 teaspoons of wholegrain mustard salt and pepper to taste Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients mentioned above in a small jug and pour over salad. Toss gently and serve.
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October has been an intense, joyful, and exciting month. Everything feels like it's emerging from winter hibernation; we see and feel the signs of new growth, unfurling, possibility, planning, promise. The baby quince is flowering for the first time since we planted her. The incredible blue echium attracts wattle birds and bees in abundance. I love watching them as I sit at the kitchen table with my morning cup of tea. The vegetable patch gifts us delicious things every day: sprouting broccoli, spring onions, baby leeks, lettuce, fennel bulbs, silverbeet and the first of the snow peas. Calendula, red valerian and forget-me-nots are coming out everywhere. Marvelously self-seeding. We are grateful that school and kindergarten has resumed on site after months of lockdown. I am in the final weeks of my study for the year and feeling the deadline for my last big essay looming. Other sweet glimmers include being able to include these gorgeous possum and koala puppet friends in my kids messages for church; savouring all the thoughtful conversations shared for the Soulcraft festival; short bouts knitting a blue Sibella cardigan; and listening to this beautiful album by Lord Huron as we open the windows wide and let the fresh spring air in... Tell me, how are you going? What does this season hold for you?
Go on, grow a garden Grow it for yourself for the pure joy of it, for the serious plans and binge weeding, the failures and the surprise self-seeding, for the privilege to watch things live and thrive and die, for the seasons Grow it for the bees for the creatures seen and unseen, for the under the earth world, the beetles and the worm - the foes and the friends for all living things, Grow it for the table for the flowers, and if you’re able for eating, steaming, drying, preserving, for salad and pizza and pesto and stews - the sweetest tomato and the wonkiest carrot, the crunchiest lettuce and the wild rocket Grow it for your kids (or someone else’s) watch those tiny hands cup the dirt, poke around for bugs, scatter seeds, step on seedlings, mouthful of peas - marvel at a sunflower unfurling snail trails, a dragonfly wing Grow it for the stranger that may live in your house one day - or the passerbys, plant trees you’ll never see arch over you, the fruit you’ll never pick, the hedges tall and firm, and the children that will swing from branches, where birds will nest in, grow it for them too. |
ABOUT the authorEmily Clare Sims is a farmer and mama to three young boys. Each day she looks for ways to notice beauty, contemplate her faith and savour the seasons... Categories
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