Try cooking fennel slowly in oil, if you aren’t a fan of it in its raw state. It will mute the anise flavour and cooked fennel works well with many other ingredients. For this dish, you could substitute the scallops for pork loin, steak, fish or grilled tofu.
Ingredients
- 6 large scallops
- 1 bulb fennel, cut in half, trimmed and cored
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
- 1 small or Lebanese cucumber
- 2 radishes, sliced thin
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- fennel apple pureé (recipe below)
- fennel fronds (garnish)
- pea shoots (optional garnish)
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Apple fennel pureé
1 cup green apple, cored and chopped
1 cup fennel, cored and chopped
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon honey
Pinch of salt and pepper
In a small pot over medium heat add the apples, fennel and a 1/4 cup of water. Cook covered until the water has evaporated and the apples and fennel are soft. Remove from heat.
Using a food processor, blend the cooked apples and fennel until smooth (add a spoonful of water, if it's too chunky.) Using a fine-mesh strainer, strain the mixture into a small bowl. Add the lemon zest, honey and salt and pepper to taste. Reserve.
Lay the flat side of each half of the fennel bulb on a cutting board and cut into six wedges each, for a total of 12 pieces. In a medium-sized pot, lay the fennel wedges flat and add the cloves of garlic and cover the fennel with the oil. Place the pot on the stove on low heat. Cook the fennel until it has softened, 30 to 40 minutes, until it turns a slight golden colour. Turn the heat off, but leave the fennel in the pot. Allow it to cool in the oil. Once cooled, remove from the oil and sit on a cloth to drain the excess oil (drain and save the oil for other recipes.) Sprinkle with a little salt. Reserve.
Wash and cut the ends from the cucumber. Using a mandolin or sharp knife, cut the cucumber into thin slices. Place the slices into a mixing bowl and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the apple cider vinegar to the bowl and toss. Let sit for another 5 minutes. Reserve.
To prepare your scallops, pat them dry and remove the abductor muscle. Season them lightly with salt. Heat a medium-sized pan over medium heat and add a spoonful fennel oil. Once the oil becomes hot, slowly add each scallop to the pan. Cook for 45 seconds to a minute or until the scallop is golden brown. Turn each scallop over and cook for another 20 to 30 seconds.
To serve, lay several wedges of fennel onto each plate. Pat the excess liquid from the cucumber and fold several pieces, tucking them around the fennel. Using a small spoon, drop dollops of the apple fennel pureé on the plate and add the scallops. Garnish with the radish slices, fennel fronds and pea shoots.
