Baked Salmon and Braised Orange Fennel.

I tried fennel for the first time last night, i had watched a lot of cooking shows where it was used as an ingredients, mostly in salads, id usually stare at the huge bulb in the grocery store with confusion, wondering how exactly i could make any thing i can possibly enjoy eating out of it.

It has a very weird scent that i suppose might work in some dishes, i wasn't exactly drawn to it, reminded me almost of a anise seeds.
I had heard somewhere a while ago that fennel worked well with orange, well i love cooking with oranges so i decide to buckle up and give this weird veggie a try ( its a vegetable right or herb maybe?).
Here is what i made

It turned out amazing.

The fennel was softened but still had a bite, the orange combined with that smell of the fennel is a match made in heaven, drizzle some lemon juice on it, and i was in paradise, the fish was delicious too, of course, cooking salmon is an art, doesn't take anything to end up with overcooked dry salmon. Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1 salmon fillet

2 tbsp of Panko breadcrumbs mixed with 1 tsp of  dry parsley

1 egg, whisked and sesoned with salt and chili

Seasoned flour ( i seasoned with rosemary, salt and pepper)

1 tbsp of Olive oil

Half of a large fennel bulb

2 tsp of Sugar

1 cup of chicken stock

2 tbsp of Olive oil

Orange juice from 2 medium sized oranges

1 tbsp of orange zest

salt, pepper 

2 lemon wedges to serve.

Preheat oven to 350degF

lightly coat the skin of the salmon with seasoned flour, next brush it lightly with whisked egg, sprinkle panko crumbs on the skin until it is fully covered and looks like this

In a fry pan with 1 tbsp of Olive oil on medium-high heat, lay salmon skin side down and leave to brown for about 2 minutes, watch closely so it does not burn. when the crust is brown, turn salmon, skin side up and leave for 1minute on the stove, then put pan in the oven for 12minutes.

After 12 minutes, bring salmon out of the oven, turn it,skin side down on a flat plate and season with salt and black pepper, then flip it, skin side up ad leave to rest for 3minutes.

Meanwhile, cut fennel into 6 wedges, be careful to leave enough of the root on so that the fennel fronds stay together.

Boil in water for 5minutes, then drain.

In a pan, add 2 tbsp of Olive oil and saute Fennel with sugar until all sides are mostly brown not burnt, add in chicken stock, orange juice, and orange zest, salt and pepper and leave to boil until sauce almost reduces completely.

Serve immediately with lemon wedges. Fresh lemon juice complements it.

Garnish with the dill like part of the fennel.