RCP: Fenneled Rice

Fenneled Rice

Serves six as a side dish.

2 T unsalted butter, divided
1/4 cup finely chopped fennel bulb
4 bulbs chopped shallot (yields about 3/4 cup)
1 cup long grain rice (I used basmati)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fennel fronds, wrapped in cheesecloth and tied, then smashed with the side of a heavy knife or butt of a bottle.
1-2 tsp. fennel seed, crushed with same blunt object
1 pinch celery seed
1/2 cup stock
2 cups water
salt and pepper to taste

This recipe is based on a dish at Bistro Clovis in San Francisco (Franklin and Market, super for pre-theater dining). It was so aromatic that I decided to try and recreate it at home.

Melt 1 T butter in a 3 liter saucepan over medium heat. Add fennel bulb and cook 3 minutes. Add shallot and cook 4 more minutes, until everything is starting to soften. Add rice and the remaining 1 T butter, cook until rice starts to become translucent. Add remaining ingredients, increase heat to high and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for about fifteen minutes until rice is tender, adding more water if necessary. Remove fronds and serve.

If you want more overt fennel flavor, you can up the amount of fronds or seed, or dial it back for a more subtle dish. If you want to turn the dish green, instead of making a bouquet with the fronds, mince them and mix into the rice.

This is pretty far on the sweet/buttery side of things (though a hit of white truffle oil could push it even further to the luxe end). If you prefer something less sweet, I might switch to green olive oil and halve the shallot.

Walt

Sounds very good, Walt. I like the idea of adding the truffles as well.

Mike

[Jenise]

Nice job. You know, that's not far at all from a fennel risotto--switch rice, add more liquid, and it becomes a stand-alone course.

Thanks, Mike and Jenise,

I hadn't thought about going the risotto route (I guess because the original dish was long-grain and I'm just not that creative . Texturally I think it would work for sure.

I'll try that next fall, as the first summer squash just showed up at the market, so we'll probably be well into the summer vegetables before long.

Walt