Thursday, June 16, 2011

An Accent Herb and A Recipe to Use It!

Our bronze fennel (Foeniculum vulgare 'bronze')  is looking pretty good this year.  It does like full sun and it is hardy to Zone 5 easily.  This fennel doesn't create a bulb, but you can use the feathery leaves and seeds just as you would the regular fennel.  I love it because it adds a foliage accent to your herb or perennial garden.  It has a nice licorice or anise flavor.  I use it when I bake fish in the oven for myself.  I place a nice piece of whitefish like tilapia, flounder or cod in a baking dish.  Add the fennel with some fresh bread crumbs on top, add a couple of tablespoons of white wine or stock.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for 12 minutes.  Melt a tablespoon of butter and add some garlic powder to it.  Take fish out, pour butter/garlic mixture on top.  Place back in the oven for additional minute.  Yummy!

You just want to make sure that once the bronze fennel starts producing flower stalks that you let some of it come to seed, but most of it you want to cut.  You will have an abundance of bronze fennel in your garden if you don't.  They are buggers to remove!  It like dill and regular fennel has a long taproot, so pick a spot where you want it to grow and do not try to move it.  It will resent the move!  I forgot to mention that bronze fennel like the green version regular fennel and dill are larval food for swallowtail butterflies.  Always a good thing.  I hope you are having a great day and evening wherever you may be.  Talk to you later.

7 comments:

Leanne said...

The bronze fennel sure looks pretty.
mmmm must plant

Love Leanne

Becca's Dirt said...

It is pretty and does look feathery. I am fixing tilapia tonight but I don't have fennel. Think I'm gonna use some fresh basil.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Hi Leanne, Glad I could give you an idea about bronze fennel.

Basil will work just as well, Becca!

Thanks ladies for stopping by!

Cindy said...

I love bronze fennel too. And I do have it coming up all over! I like that the swallowtail butterflies lay eggs on it, but we have to be careful when using it for cooking!

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Oops I forgot to mention that fact about the swallowtails! Thanks for reminding me Cindy!

Pat said...

And here I am in Zone 3! Could you start it from seed and treat it as an annual? I love our cooler summers up here in the Northwoods, but this far north makes so many plants out of reach.

Lemon Verbena Lady said...

Maybe TO. Zone 3! I didn't think I would ever meet someone from Zone 3! And we like each other as well. Bonus! Just as long as you can find sun for it to grow, I think it would work. Lots of seed catalogs sell it.