Steak Dinner with Roasted Green Beans and Fennel

 We had a super-easy and delicious dinner last night.  A simple steak on the grill along with some fresh tomatoes tossed with EVOO, balsamic and fresh basil from my garden and a new green bean side dish that I just recently found on the while surfing the net for recipes for our gourmet group that we are hosting in a few weeks.

The green beans, or thin haricot verts if you can find them (or, as the author of the blog where I found the recipe calls them, Harry Corvair), are roasted in the oven with diced fennel.  My husband and I both thought they were wonderful! 

The fennel adds a wonderful, rich flavor to the beans.  When they come out of the oven, a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a handful of freshly-grated Parmesan cheese are added.  Oh, yum!  This is a perfect side dish for a grilled steak.

I had to buy a fairly large bulb of fennel which was too much for the green beans so I carmelized the rest of the fennal on the stove with a little EVOO and  S&P and added it as a topping to the steak.

I can't believe I wasted so many years not cooking with fennel!

The recipe is adapted from the food blog, Foodgasms. I loved this blog!  Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the author has posted anything new in quite a long while.    

Oven Roasted Green Beans and Fennel 
Recipe adapted from Foodgasms
Printable Recipe

Serves 2 as a side dish~

1 pound fresh green beans, trimmed, washed and dried
1 small fennel bulb chopped, white part only, core removed, about 1/2 cup
Splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher salt, about 1 teaspoon
Freshly ground black pepper , about 1/2 teaspoon
A Squeeze of fresh lemon juice,, about 1 tablespoon
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese about 1/4 cup

Preheat oven to 450˚. Chop the fennel bulb into a fine dice. Add the clean, trimmed green beans to a baking sheet and toss with the chopped fennel. Add a splash of EVOO to coat the green beans and fennel without drowning them in oil, add the salt and pepper and toss to blend. Roast until the beans reach the desired al dente stage, about 5-7 minutes

Remove from the oven and immediately add the squeeze of fresh lemon over them and add the fresh grated Parmesan and toos.

Serve immediately.

Potato and Fennel Gratin...Ode to a Tuber - Part Ten!

Ina Garten is my new go-to person for fennel recipes. Her Onion and Fennel Soup Gratin, which I just made last week was so good I decided to try her Potato Fennel Gratin recipe.


Ina's recipe calls for a buttered casserole dish for baking the gratin. I decided to use the same pan that I used to saute the onions and fennel since the handles were safe to go in the oven. One pan to clean was the bonus!


I also think the stainless steel helped conduct the heat better, giving the gratin a wonderful crusty top. I also have a fondness for crusty potatoes!

This would be a delicious side dish with almost anything meat, fish or poultry!  Thanksgiving?

Potato-Fennel Gratin
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Recipe found Here
Printable Recipe

My adapted recipe serves 4

1 fennel bulb
1/2 very large onion, thinly sliced (like Vidalia or other sweet onion)
1 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy cream (I substituted 1/2 cup of fat free half and half)
1-1/2 cups grated Gruyère or good Swiss cheese
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the fennel stalks and cut the bulbs in half lengthwise. Remove the core and thinly slice the bulb crosswise. You should have approximately 2 cups of sliced fennel. Saute the fennel and onions in the olive oil and butter on medium heat for 15 minutes, until tender and slightly browned.

Peel the potatoes and slice. (Using a mandoline makes quick work of this step.) Mix the sliced potatoes in a large bowl with 1 cup of cream, 1 cup of Gruyère, salt and pepper. Add the sauteed fennel and onion and mix well. (I did all of the mixing in the pan I used to saute the onions and fennel).

If not using a large saute pan as I did, pour the potatoes into the prepared baking dish. Press down to smooth the potatoes. Combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of cream and 1/2 cup of Gruyère and sprinkle on the top.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until the potatoes are very tender and the top is browned and bubbly.

Allow to set for 10 minutes and serve.

Onion and Fennel Soup Gratin

Cold, cloudy, rainy = good day to make soup!  I picked up a folder of loose recipes on my desk. You know, those recipes you tear from magazines, the newspaper, etc., throw in a folder and usually never see again? There, near the top of the pile was a page torn from a House Beautiful magazine with a Barefoot Contessa recipe for Onion and Fennel Soup Gratin. Luckily, I had a fennel bulb in the frig that I had bought for something else last weekend and never used. I had onions, a carton of beef stock in the pantry, Swiss cheese and French bread in the freezer so I was ready!

What a wonderful recipe! I have to say it was the best onion soup I have ever made! The fennel was mild and barely noticeable but gave a wonderful flavor to the soup. The sherry, brandy and wine gave it a richness of taste that was gourmet restaurant quality. Nothing like a little candle glow and a glass of wine to warm the soul too as darkness settled in :)

If you need some soup to warm your heart and soul, please give this one a try. I think you'll like it!I was only able to make a half recipe due to the limited amount of fennel and onions I had so my recipe reflects one-half of the original recipe. It was just right for the hubby and myself.

ONION and FENNEL SOUP GRATIN
Adapted from Ask the Barefoot Contessa (House Beautiful)
Printable Recipe

Serves 3-4 (May be Doubled)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/8 cup good olive oil
1-1/2 pounds large sweet onions, halved and sliced 1/4 inch thick (5 cups)
1 pound fresh fennel, fronds removed and cored, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup brandy
3/4 cup dry white wine – I used Chardonnay
4 cups beef stock or broth
2 small bay leaves
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 slices of French bread, cut to fit soup bowls
2-4 ounces of grated Swiss or Gruyere cheese

Heat the butter and olive oil in a large stockpot on medium/high heat. Add the sliced onions and fennel and sauté for 30-35 minutes, stirring occasionally until the onions are golden brown. Add the sherry and brandy and stir and then simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add the white wine and simmer uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

Add the beef stock or broth, bay leaves, salt and pepper and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, toast the French bread slices in a 350 oven for 10-15 minutes until they are nicely toasted.

Remove the bay leaves from the soup and adjust seasoning.

Preheat the broiler to high. Place the bowls on a baking sheet and ladle the soup into the bowls. Place the toasted bread over the top of the soup and sprinkle generously with the grated cheese and broil for about 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbling and serve.

Grill-Roasted Pork Loin

Every summer, my husband and I host our gourmet group of 5 couples. The host and hostess plan the entire menu (which in our home translates to me) and also provide the cocktails, wine, main entrée and the side dishes. The rest of the recipes (appetizer, soup, salad and dessert) are assigned to the other four couples to either make or partially make at home and then bring to the party to finish and serve.

Starting each spring, I begin my search for the perfect al fresco recipes for our summer gourmet. Since we always host the group in summer, it normally includes a recipe for meat prepared on the grill so we can continue to socialize with our guests on the patio while preparing dinner.

Recently, I found an intriguing recipe for a roasted pork loin from Alice Waters. Searching through my cookbooks and on the internet produced many variations of and pork and fennel recipes so I combined several of them with mostly Alice Waters' inspiration to create this recipe. David Tannis also has a similar recipe in his new cookbook A Platter of Figs. It's no wonder his recipe is so similar to that of Alice Waters as he has worked very closely with her at Chez Panisse restaurant in California. Tannis suggested the possibility of cooking the roast outdoors on a grill.

Our daughter and son-in-law were the guest 'taste-testers' when I made this recipe a few weeks ago and we all agreed it was gourmet-worthy! Not only did it look beautiful but the flavor was fantastic!

Grill-Roasted Pork Loin with Rosemary and Fennel

Printable Recipe

Serves 4 to 6
~adapted from a recipe by Alice Waters

3 lb boneless pork loin, tied at 2" intervals with butcher's twine
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced very thin
1-2 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt
Several branches fennel fronds
Several sprigs of rosemary
Olive oil

At least 8 hours, or, preferably the night before, make small slits into the bottom side of the tied pork roast with a sharp knife and insert the garlic slices. Season the roast generously with salt,pepper and crushed fennel seeds and drizzle with a little olive oil. Remove the leaves from one large rosemary sprig and chop coasely and rub over the roast. Layer enough fennel fronds and rosemary sprigs in a grill-proof roasting pan (I have an old heavy aluminum roasting pan) to make a bed for the pork roast and place the pork on the top. Place a few fennel fronds on the top of the roast also. Cover and refrigerate.

The following day, bring the pork loin to room temperature. Pre-heat a gas grill to 425°F with the center flame turned off. (Rather than grilling the roast directly over the coals, I decided to leave the roast in the roasting pan on it's wonderful herb 'bed'). Center the roasting pan over the middle grate and grill the pork loin,uncovered, until the internal temperature registers 130°F. on a meat thermometer, about 1 hour. Remove the roast from the grill, cover with a loose tent of foil, and let rest for at least 15 minutes.

Cut the strings from the roast,slice the pork and place on a warm platter with the now-carmelized herbs.

I also made a wine reduction sauce using a few pieces of pork cut from the roast which I browned in a saucepan, covered with beef stock and red wine and then reduced to a thin syrup. I added the pan juices from the grill-roasted pork, and reduced a little more. The resulting sauce was then strained, seasoned with salt and pepper, and served on the side.