Ingredient Spotlight: fennel pollen

When I mentioned fennel pollen in passing last week, I got quite a few requests for more information about it. I’ve come to find that some of the ingredients I use on a regular basis aren’t necessarily common, so I’ve decided to start a semi-regular feature called Ingredient Spotlight. Once a month, I’ll feature a different ingredient – what it is, where to buy it and recipe ideas. If you have any ingredients in particular that you’d like me to talk about, just let me know.

First up is fennel pollen. Fennel pollen is exactly what it sounds like – the pollen from wild fennel plants. I’ve think that raw fennel tastes very different than cooked fennel. Besides the obvious texture difference, raw fennel has a distinctive licorice flavor. When you cook fennel it gets sweet, and the licorice flavor is considerably milder. Fennel pollen tastes like cooked fennel, only sweeter with a more intense flavor. It’s quite delicious.

I bought my fennel pollen at a specialty foods store in the Bay Area. You can order it online from them, or buy it at Amazon. It’s a little pricey because it’s very labor intensive to pick, but a little goes a long way. Fennel pollen is primary used in Italian cooking, but there’s no reason why you couldn’t use it elsewhere. You can use it in place of fennel seeds in quite a few recipes, although I would stick to simple preparations to let its flavor shine.

One of my favorite combinations is fennel pollen and pork. Apparently Anne Burrell and Mario Batali agree. Nancy Silverton puts fennel pollen in roasted vegetables. You could also use it on fish or chicken.

Here’s a recipe I adapted from the Campanile cookbook. The original didn’t call for fennel pollen, but I thought it would pair well with the scallops. I loved this dish – if you’re a leek fan like I am, give it a try. If you want to make this but don’t want to buy fennel pollen, just leave it out.


Scallops with fennel pollen, leeks and bacon
Serves 4
Adapted from the Campanile cookbook

1 ½ lbs sea scallops
2 tsp fennel pollen
4 slices of bacon, cut into ½ inch pieces
6 leeks, cleaned and lengthwise into 1-2 inch pieces
1 T grainy mustard
½ a lemon
Salt and pepper

Cook the bacon in a large pan until crisp, transfer to paper towels. Divide the bacon fat between two large pans; you should have about 1 tablespoon per pan. Drain some of the fat off if you have too much. Warm both pans over high heat. In one pan, add the leeks and turn the heat down to medium, sauté until browned and tender. Add salt and pepper to taste. Turn the heat down to low, and add the mustard. Cook for about 1 minute, then add the bacon and juice from the lemon.

Make sure your scallops are dry before you start. Sprinkle the scallops with the fennel pollen, salt and pepper. Sear the scallops in the other pan over high heat in a single layer for about 3 minutes. Turn the scallops to the other side and cook for another 2-3 minutes, or until done. Serve the scallops over the leeks.

Pork loin with red cabbage

These days when it comes to cooking pork, I automatically lean towards a brine. I know I’m a little slow to jump on the brining bandwagon, but I can’t believe what a difference it makes.

I adapted this recipe for brined pork loin with red cabbage from the Campanile cookbook. The pork is brined in a solution of water, kosher salt, sugar, thyme, peppercorns, cloves and allspice. The pork needs to sit in the brine for about 2 days, so plan ahead.

When I initially read through the recipe, I wasn’t sure about the cabbage part. The ingredients start off fine with cabbage, garlic, balsamic vinegar, caramelized onions. Then comes capers and sage. Capers, sage and red cabbage? That’s a combination that didn’t sound quite right to me. I decided to trust the recipe and go for it, and in the end I was pleasantly surprised with the result.

A word about capers: do you buy brined or salt packed capers? I started buying salt packed capers after reading about them, and they're definitely superior to the brined version. They're slightly more expensive, but have a much better flavor and texture. The only catch is that they need to be rinsed before use.

As expected, the brining process made the pork very flavorful, and the cabbage was a great complement.

Roasted loin of pork with red cabbage
Serves 4 to 6
Adapted from the Campanile cookbook

For the pork:
1/3 cup kosher salt
3 T granulated sugar
2 T black peppercorns, cracked
1 T dried thyme
4 cloves
6 allspice berries, cracked
2 bay leaves
1 boneless pork loin, about 2 1/2 pounds
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick round slices
1 T canola oil

For the cabbage:
1 medium head red cabbage, cored, quartered and thinly sliced
1 T olive oil
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
6 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed and chopped
salt and pepper

Combine two quarts of water with the salt, sugar, peppercorns, thyme, cloves, allspice and bay leaves in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Remove the stockpot from the heat and transfer the brine to a bowl that's large enough to hold the pork. Cool the brine to room temperature, then refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours. Add the pork to the brine, making sure that it's completely immersed. Refrigerate for 2 days. When ready to roast, remove the meat from the brine and dry with paper towels.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat heat the oil, then brown the pork on all sides. Place the onion slices on the bottom of the skillet and put the browned pork loin on top. Transfer to the oven and roast until a meat thermometer reads 138 degrees in the thickest part of the pork loin, about 25 minutes. Remove the pork from the oven and place on a plate; wrap with foil. Let the pork rest while you prepare the cabbage.

Remove the onions from the skillet and coarsely chop. Heat up the olive oil in a large saute pan on high heat. Add the garlic, cook for one minute and turn heat down to medium. Add the cabbage and saute until the cabbage is wilted, about 6-8 minutes. Add the balsamic vinegar, chopped onions, capers and sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, cut the pork loin into 1 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the cabbage on a large platter, arrange the pork on top of the cabbage.

Another day, another braise

I've been doing a lot of braising this cold weather season, everything from radishes to pork shoulder. This time around, I made braised beef with carrots from Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest cookbook. The recipe is unique because it's as much about the carrots as it is the beef. Many braising recipes use vegetables only to enhance the flavor of the meat - by the end of the cooking period, the vegetables are usually mushy and get strained out of the sauce. This recipe produced a tender piece of meat with an abundance of perfectly cooked carrots. The carrots held their shape, and even had a slight bite to them.

I always get fun cookbooks for the holidays, and this year was no exception. I got the Campanile cookbook, which is great because I'm a huge Nancy Silverton fan. I made kale with crispy garlic from the book to go along with the beef. The recipe is actually really simple - thinly sliced garlic cloves are crisped up in oil, and added to cooked kale seasoned with a squeeze of lemon and salt. I used lacinato kale, which is also known as dinosaur kale or cavalo nero. I prefer the flavor and texture, but regular kale would work just as well.
Braised beef with carrots

Adapted from Vegetable Harvest

Serves about 6

A 3lb boneless piece of beef meant for braising (anything labeled chuck is a good bet)

3 lbs of carrots, peeled and thinly sliced on the diagonal

2 cans of tomato paste

2 cups of red wine

2 cups of chicken or beef stock

4 sprigs of fresh thyme

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy pot. Season the beef generously with salt and pepper and brown on all sides. Add all of the remaining ingredients to the pot, bring to a simmer. Cover the pot and cook at a low simmer for about 3 and a half hours, or until the meat is tender. Turn the meat once per hour. After the meat is cooked, remove it from the pot and cut into thick slices. Spoon the carrots over the top. Discard thyme sprigs and bay leaves. Season to taste with salt and pepper.