Chicken & Fennel Gratin

We love fennel.  It's worthwhile saying that straight away.

However, even if you're not keen on fennel, it'd be worthwhile making this Gratin dish - so long as you're keen on the combination of Lasagne and salad - as it makes a very satisfying (and rather more lightweight) alternative, that does a similar job.

Hubby was rather disappointed that the fennel seemed to have lost the majority of its flavour in the cooking process, however I quite liked that it had been rendered more subtle than in other recipes.  Fennel is one of those ingredients that seems to either be right up there at the front of the ingredient choir singing in a piercing tenor, or can be muscled out of the way by a big deep voiced bass of a tomato (for instance).  In this dish, however, I felt it added to a harmonious whole by providing the freshness and lightness that the rich sauce required.

As a springtime dish, I think this one absolutely fits the bill perfectly.  Not as heavy as the casseroles and stews we've been relying on to warm us both inside and out whilst the winter slowly progresses on ponderous feet.  This Gratin provides just enough comfort in its creamy sauce, robust chicken and cheesy goodness that we're happy to tuck into the accompanying salad and welcome the advent of fresh, uncooked vegetables into our lives again. Croutons of crunchy baguette pair with the earthiness of the walnuts, while our spirits are lifted by the wholegrain mustard and zing of cayenne pepper.

Did I like it?  Yeah, it was okay.  LOL  No, it was lovely!

Of necessity, I made some changes to the original recipe (which I found in a BBC Good Food magazine, but it doesn't appear to be on their website) as I was cooking the chicken from raw.  As such, it needed a lot longer in the oven so I didn't bother with the pre-cooking of the fennel and didn't add the topping until 25 minutes baking had passed by.  I also drizzled the topping with a little extra virgin olive oil, both for flavour and to encourage the croutons to crisp without going hard.

As an alternative to the laborious process of making a Lasagne, this would definitely get my vote.  I could see it being popular as a suppertime dish for an evening meal with friends, accompanied by a light, crisp white wine.

Even without the wine, everyone here cleared their plate and declared it to be a very great success.

 This recipe has been entered into the Recipe Lion March Blog Hop competition!

CHICKEN & FENNEL GRATIN   (feeds 4)

Ingredients :

2 bulbs of fennel
3 chicken breasts, skinless & boneless, cut into strips

100g butter
2 tbsp plain flour
350ml semi-skimmed milk 

2 rounded tsp wholegrain mustard
pinch of cayenne pepper
100g strong mature cheddar
6 slices baguette
30g walnuts, roughly chopped
a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Method :

1.  Pre-heat your oven to 190degC/375degF/Gas5.

2.  Trim the tops from the fennel, reserving the frondy bits to chop for the sauce.  Make sure that the fennel is washed well, as dirt can hide inbetween the layers.  Trim the bottom root part away, then cut in half and remove the remainder of the core and discard.  Slice into thin pieces and sprinkle into the bottom of a gratin dish.

3.  Trim any fat from each chicken breast and slice into decent sized even slices that will lay on top of the fennel comfortably.   Arrange the slices so that the majority (or all) of the fennel is covered.

4.  In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour.  Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes, but don't allow to brown.  Slowly add the milk, a little at a time, whisking like mad to avoid any lumps.  Increase the heat slowly - stirring and whisking all the time - until the sauce thickens and begins to boil.  You are looking for a sauce that is the consistency of a thick double cream.  One that will coat the back of a spoon, but still liquid enough to pour.  Reduce the heat immediately.

5.  Add the mustard and cayenne pepper, then two thirds of the grated cheese.  Stir well until the cheese is dissolved and the mustard and cayenne are evenly distributed.

6.  Add the chopped fronds from the fennel and adjust the seasoning (salt, more than pepper) if necessary.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and encourage it into the corners, so that every little bit of chicken and fennel is sealed under a blanket of sauce.


7.  Put into the oven to bake for 25 minutes.


8.  In the meantime, you can prepare the topping by cutting the baguette slices into small crouton squares and running a knife through the walnut pieces to reduce their size.


9.  Once the 25 minutes are up, remove from the oven just long enough to sprinkle the croutons, walnuts and cheese over and drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil across the top.


10.  Replace into the oven and bake again for another 25 minutes, or until the top is browned slightly and crunchy and the sauce is bubbling.


11.  Serve with a mixed salad.


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A busy week - all the more reason to meal plan!

It is indeed a busy week, this week - as might be evidenced by the fact that this meal planning post is appearing on Friday instead of Tuesday!  Oops!

On the reckoning that it's better late than never, here's what is on the menu for this week :

Tues : Chickarone Soup with cheesy pesto dippers

Wed : Pizza Hut for hubby's birthday

Thurs : Hot dogs and potato wedges

Fri : Mango chicken with spiced pilau rice

Sat : Chicken & fennel gratin with salad

Sun : Asparagus & bacon risotto followed by Raspberry Sherry Trifle

Mon : Kibbeh meatballs in pitta bread with salad & potato wedges

Yes, you're right - the Chickarone soup was indeed on last week's meal plan.  To be honest, I forget why it got bounced to this week but we managed to have it on Tuesday evening and very nice it was too.  I've already blogged this recipe, which you can find here if you've missed it.  The cheesy pesto pitta bread dippers were especially nice and worthy of a special mention!

So manly - so "Hubby" :)

Wednesday was hubby's birthday and although I'm afraid it was a very dull and uneventful birthday (for various reasons which I won't go into here) we did manage to go out to our local Pizza Hut for dinner that night.

We were taking advantage of their Happy Hour promotion, which offers either a pizza or pasta dish, a refillable drink, countless trips to the salad bar and a side order of either potato wedges or garlic bread, for £6.  Desserts were additional to the price, but as their ice cream machine had broken down, we didn't indulge but stopped at a drive through Macdonalds and got a McFlurry on the way home!

Photo c/o Pizza Hut

I definitely think I did the best in my choice of the Four cheese Pasta with vegetables, as it was really very nice indeed and looked so much more appealing than the two pizzas that the chaps had!  I love the salad bar and was very happy with my choices of salad items, which were fresh and appetising throughout. The drinks choice (Robinson's Squash) was a let down, as it quite obviously contained Aspartame - which is something of a surprise for such a reputable "name".  The garlic bread was just that - garlic bread.  Not dripping in butter, but tasty and with a crispy crust - so nothing to complain about there.

It wasn't the most earth-shattering birthday meal we'd ever had, but it was hubby's choice and he professed to have enjoyed his pizza meal - which took him back to pizza's of yore, he said.  Maybe next year we'll be able to push the boat out a bit further, you never know.  Well, it wouldn't be difficult, especially considering that boat stayed firmly where it was this time, resisting all attempts to be pushed out in any direction at all.  *sigh*  Hey ho.

Onwards and upwards then.  Or maybe it should be "onwards and straight forwards", as there doesn't appear to be much upward movement going on at the moment.  We have that huge monkey "circumstance" sitting on our backs currently, but as we move on through that circumstance, hopefully there'll be some upward motion!

So, Thursday's chicken dish got bumped in favour of Bockwurst hot dogs.  My motivation got up and left part way through the afternoon and hubby offered to make hot dogs instead.  You must all know that I'm easily swayed by the promise of a Bockwurst, but if you include the additional lures of fried onions and Maille Dijon mustard, then I'll be snapping at the end of that hook in no time at all.

Let me tell you, that Dijon mustard is a nice thing.  Grey's Poupon Dijon mustard is a very nice thing, but Maille Dijon mustard just blows all the rest out of the water, where quality and flavour are concerned.  If you've never tried it and are a bit of a mustard hound like I am, I thoroughly recommend it to you - but in small doses, for your own protection!

I was originally planning to have a variation on a sausage roll for dinner tonight, but now the Mango Chicken has superceded that as we had bought the chicken.  Anyway, I was really looking forward to this recipe, I just ran out of enthusiasm by yesterday afternoon.  It's back today, so we're all set for some chicken breasts stuffed with mango chutney and brushed with a curried oil mixture, oven baked.  With a spiced pilau rice to accompany, it sounds like a lovely comforting dish for a Friday evening.

Saturday's Chicken & Fennel Gratin is, I believe, a Mary Cadogan recipe that I gleaned from a BBC Good Food magazine.  I don't seem to be able to find the recipe online anywhere, but if you know different, do tell me where and I'll link to it!

I liked this recipe as it is really very simple to produce, we love fennel and the gratination will add a lovely light crunchiness to the dish.  It seemed to me to be a perfect combination to eat in this betwixt & between period, as winter draws to a close yet before spring has really sprung.   I had the majority of the ingredients already in stock, just needing to get in the chicken and fennel - which amazingly, the supermarket had today!  Usually whenever I want fennel it isn't there, yet when I don't, there are dozens of the furry topped little green monsters just falling off of the shelf.  Well, two fell into my basket today, so I'm satisfied.

We're having my parents over for lunch on Sunday - being Mother's day - and hubby is going to prepare one of his legendary risotto's.  It's looking like a bacon & asparagus risotto at the moment, but as he is the one developing the recipe, it could be subject to change!  I'm going to make a beautiful old-fashioned raspberry & sherry trifle in the lovely glass bowl that hubby picked up - just for the purpose - for £1.50 in the charity shop.  I can't wait, it's been an absolute aeon since I've had a proper trifle!

I don't know about you, but whenever we are expecting either set of parents to visit, it seems to motivate a week of furious cleaning and sorting out.  As much as I have tried to resist the compunction to do this, it just gets the better of us and we find ourselves stressing over whether the windows are clean enough, or should we wash the curtains?  These days, owing to my being incapable, it's poor old hubby who gets all the jobs to do.  He's been grafting away every day this week - pretty soon, we'll be able to comb our hair in the reflections from the surfaces.  Meanwhile, I sit here typing away whilst trying not to a) get in the way and b) say anything that might imply I'm adding to his taskload!

I'm sure Sunday will be a nice day, as it will be lovely to have my parents over to us for a change.

By Monday, however, I expect hubby may very well be ready for a day off.

Monday's lamb meatball dish should add a bit of Middle Eastern interest to the day.  The mince is mixed with bulgur wheat and pine nuts (amongst other things) and the meatballs are served in a salad stuffed pitta bread, with tzatziki to moisten the whole thing.  Sounds, to me, absolutely delightful and I'm very much looking forward to it.

Now, I STILL haven't made that Dorset Apple Cake, nor the Peanut Butter - although I am harbouring peanut butter making hopes for when I finish with the blog.  You never know!

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