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Try a New Vegetable: Fennel Mashed Potatoes
Difficulty Level Easy
I've tended to shy away from fennel in the past because I wasn't that fond of the taste of anise. But when I had the Spiced Carrot Soup at a restaurant a couple of weeks ago, I really liked the underlying flavour of the fennel. I bought the fennel to try to duplicate the soup, but I didn't use that much of it, so I had to cast about looking for another way to use it.
There are lots of salad recipes where the fennel is shaved and served raw, but when I saw this recipe for fennel mashed potatoes, I knew it was for me. I love mashed potatoes, but sometimes they are a bit boring. The addition of the fennel made them different and light and quite delicious. The leftovers were fantastic the next day, too.
Fennel is in season right now and last week there were several farmers at my local market selling it. I'm going to get some more this week and give this unusual tasting vegetable a try in different ways.
INGREDIENTS
| 2 tablespoons | butter (1/4 stick) |
| 1 | fennel bulb, trimmed, quartered, cored, thinly sliced crosswise |
| 1/2 teaspoon | fennel seeds, crushed |
| 2 1/2 pounds | russet potatoes or Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces |
| 1 cup | half and half (or more) |
PREPARATION:
- Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add sliced fennel bulb and crushed fennel seeds and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until fennel is tender but not brown, stirring often, about 20 minutes.
- Place potatoes in large saucepan. Cover with cold water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and boil until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain. Return potatoes to pan; cook over medium heat until no liquid remains. Mash potatoes.
- Add 1 cup half and half to fennel mixture and bring to simmer. Working in 2 batches, add fennel mixture to potatoes; stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
From Bon Appetit, February, 2006