fennel aplenty!

i love fennel and enjoy it in a variety of ways so, when i saw a promotion for a 2.5kg bag of fennel i didn’t think twice, not really knowing how many bulbs to expect. thirteen arrived, and none of them were particularly small!

these two jars were my attempt at some fennel-related pickles – the large jar is slices of blanched fennel which are gently pickling in a mix of cider vinegar, sugar, pink and black peppercorns, fennel seeds and lemon zest, as set out in diana henry’s fabulous salt sugar smoke; the smaller jar is a fennel and orange mostarda courtesy of food52, which has a wonderfully balanced flavour and which i’m looking forward to trying with a variety of things, not least just-cooked mackerel and roast pork!

more fennel recipes will follow as the week goes on…