fennel - fear it not

you read that right, there's a thumb's-up for fennel.  the secret for our first go with the beastly bulb was to disguise it ::

this recipe came to me by way of simone - we have her to thank for a most delicious dinner on an icy night that most certainly warranted a steaming bowl of soup.  she suggested hiding the fennel - brilliant!  what i loved about her translation of the recipe was that it included so many options for toppings - you can take a simple soup in so many directions - we varied it up a bit to suit our tastes.  the velvety texture and savory goodness of the soup made it a winner all around.

creamy potato, fennel and leek soup with pancetta

• pancetta (or bacon of your liking)
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2-3 leeks, washed well & chopped
• 1 bulb of fennel, sliced (we didn't use the green feathery bits, but they'd be a lovely garnish)
• 2-3 lbs of potatoes (we used yukon gold), peeled & cut into cubes
• 1 large can or box of vegetable broth
• water
• 1 cup of cream or half & half

in your soup pot, render the pancetta and remove it to drain on paper towels when it's all crispy.  try not to eat it all before dinner (cough cough).  remove all but 1-2 Tbsp of the drippings.  add the chopped onion, leeks, garlic and fennel and cook them down over medium heat - i put the lid on to coax out the natural liquids and they softened quite nicely.  add the potatoes, veggie broth and enough water to just cover everything.  cover and simmer over very low heat for an hour or two.  when it's all mushy and the flavors have combined, blend the soup - i used a hand blender but you could use a regular blender, just be careful not to burn yourself.  at this point, you can remove it from the heat until about 10 minutes before you want to eat.  at that point, add the cream and heat on low until it's the temperature you'd like.  season to taste - the pancetta provided enough salt for us, but we added fresh cracked black pepper.  ladle some soup in a bowl, sprinkle on some of the pancetta and maybe some shredded cheddar cheese.  (i bet some sliced green onions would be yummy, too.)  we ate it with a refreshing veggie slaw of celery, orange bell peppers and jicama with fresh squeezed lime juice creating a wonderful contrast of flavor, texture, temperature and tang.

and since i was being domestic goddess and all, i had to bake something, as well.  we highly recommend nigella's "dense chocolate loaf" and let me tell you, there is a reason it is the first entry in the chocolate section of this book. look no further, i say.

especially tasty when paired with pomegranate + lime martinis, ahem.