Finocchio!

Pickled fennel recipe.

I had a couple instances this week where I recommended pickled fennel to folks, it's a great garnish for pizza or grilled sausage. I just whipped up a batch, here's how it goes.

First find the fennel. Here in the midwest grocers sell fennel bulbs as Anise, I don't know why they call it that, it's fennel. Select a tight bright one with happy fronds. This root great roasted, or grilled, and it's good as a substitute for carrot in a white stock or fumet. But nevermind that we're gonna pickle it.



Next slice the fennel. Slice it thin. Use whatever you have, knife, Cuisinart, but I like the Benriner mandoline. They're about 25 bucks on Amazon, or at a well stocked Asian market and they are worth every penny.



Now for the pickle, 2-1-1. I hear ratios are popular and easy to remember, Chef only had to tell me six times before it sunk in. 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water, 1 part sugar. Start with this ratio for just about anything you want to pickle: Cherries, watermelon, cucumbers, or peppers. Once you done it a couple of times, you can adjust the the formula. For Fennel, already a little sweet, I use less sugar.



Add some salt (3-5%) and bring it pickle to the boil.



Pack the sliced veg into some vessel and pour the hot liquid to cover. Allow to cool and refrigerate, let it pickle overnight.

here are the quantities I used:

1 bulb fennel
300 ml white wine vinegar
150 ml water
100 g sugar
18 g salt



Cheers.