Roasted Italian Sausage, Fennel and Red Peppers

This is wonderful. The result is the smoky roasted flavor of the broiled veg and meat coupled with the sweet, flavourful drippings that make up the intoxicating sauce. It's nice to have a bit of Commons Bread on hand to sop up the hot juices.
You can play with the ratios of vegetables. I tend to prefer less red pepper as it is a strong flavour compared to the fennel, and I love fennel so I tend to add more of that than others may like.
NOTE: The outer layer of fennel bulbs tend to be a bit tough but you don't want to discard it completely because a: it's yummy and b: it's a lot of the vegetable that is wasted. All you need to do is, with a paring knife, peel away the skin of the top layer and the flesh underneath is as sweet and lovely as the rest.

1½ lb hot or sweet Italian sausage links
1 or 2 red peppers cut into 2-inch pieces
2 med-to-small fennel bulbs, quartered and cut into 2-inch-wide pieces. See NOTE
1 large onion, quartered and cut into 2-inch pieces
¼ cup olive oil
½ tsp salt

1. Preheat the broiler.
2. Score the sausage lengthwise to split them open.
3. In a large bowl, toss together all the remaining ingredients (I do this with my hands to make sure I get everything really well covered with the salt and oil).
4. Place the sausage on a large baking sheet, cut-side down. Dump the oily vegetables on top, shifting everything around to have things on a single layer (you likely won't succeed but that's ok). It's ok if the sausage is partially exposed.
5. Broil 6-8 inches from the heat source, until the exposed parts of the sausages are browned and the vegetables begin to soften, about 10 minutes. With a spatula, flip everything over and stir, then broil until the sausage is just cooked through and the vegetables are softened, about 8 to 10 minutes more.
6. (Optional) Serve sprinkled with fennel fronds.

Shakshuksha

This lovely brunch-type meal, which is, actually, good at any time. With all the peppers and spices, you'd think it would be unbearably hot but, actually, it is just right. I have a recipe for the spice mix harissa somewhere...

2  Tbsp olive oil
½  cup (26gr) onion, minced
1  cup fennel bulb, minced
2 serrano chillies, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
½  cup green bell pepper, minced
½ tsp salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
1  Tbsp harissa
1  tsp sweet spanish smoked paprika
28oz (796 mL) diced canned tomatoes
½  cup water
6 eggs
2  Tbsps parsley, chopped
½  cup feta

1. Cook onion and fennel in oil in large skillet until soft, 3 minutes. Add chiles, pepper and salt, cook, stirring 8 minutes or until softened. Add garlic and spices and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes and water, simmer until thickened, 10 minutes.
2. Crack eggs into the sauce gently, to poach. Cover and cook in low heat until whites are firm and yolk is runny, 5 minutes.
3. To serve, sprinkle each portion with parsley and feta.

Poulet au Paprika

It's always such a pleasure when I discover that a negative prejudice I have about food is wrong. I've never had anything against paprika, but it always seemed like an afterthought kind of seasoning that I often wondered what it's use was. That is, until I tried Laura's Poulet au Paprika. It creates such a smooth blend of flavours, all couched in this noticeable taste of paprika. I strongly recommend exploring different types of paprika each time you make this recipe. And I'm fairly confident that you will want to make it again and again.

The original recipe required only chicken thighs, but the cooking instructions are the same as cooking a whole chicken in pieces that I just did that, and it turned out wonderfully.

1 whole chicken cut in 6 to 8 pieces

1 pinch salt and pepper

1 Tbsp bacon drippings or oil

1 red pepper, julienned

1 onion, sliced

half of a small fennel bulb, finely chopped

1 Tbsp hot or sweet Hungarian paprika (or try with other types of paprika)

1 clove garlic, minced

1⁄2 cup white wine

1 tomato (6 to 7oz) roughly chopped

1 bay leaf

2 Tbsps crème fraîche

garnish with a wedge of lemon

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat the fat in a sauté pan and, working in batches, brown the meat on all sides, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove and set aside.
2. Drain off all but a tablespoon of fat from the pan.
3. Lower the heat and add the julienned pepper, onion, fennel, and paprika. Cook until soft, but not coloured, about 12 minutes, adding the garlic for the final minute.
4. Deglaze the pan with the wine. Add the tomatoes and bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Put the chicken back in. Cover the pan, and cook, turning the meat occasionally, until tender, about 30 minutes or until breasts register 165°F on a meat thermometre.
6. Remove the chicken to a serving platter and cover with foil to keep warm.
7. Turn up the heat under the sauce and boil down to sauce consistency. Turn off the heat, stir through the cream, check the seasonings (including the paprika, adding more if you like), then pour over the chicken, and serve with wedge of lemon. Squeeze lemon before eating if desired.

Shaved Vegetable Salad

Oh, I can make this in so many different ways, it really depends on what you want to put in your salad. This is originally from Laura Calder and what I've indicated below is one of my variations. Really, the recipe is just to slice veggies paper-thin so that they develop a texture very similar to raw lettuce. Unless you're preternaturally skilled with a knife, a fine mandolin is essential to pull this off. The texture is so delightfully and surprisingly light and fresh this will soon become a favorite.

Carrots

Fennel bulb

Radishes

Beets

Lemon juice

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Fresh dill (optional)

1. Using a very fine mandolin, shave any hard, firm vegetable you like into paper-thin slices, reserving beets for last and keeping them to the side (their colour will bleed and stain the other veggies unless, of course, they are golden or white beets).
2. Toss veg (except for beets) and dill (if using) with olive oil to cover and properly separate them. Add lemon juice and arrange in bowls. While arranging in bowls, insert beet slices so that they are evenly distributed throughout. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Blue Cheese and Fennel Quiche

I have my standard quiche recipe which more or less (less or more) follows the instructions I've mentioned in my earlier post for quick and easy quiches. I use a mild blue cheese called Bleu Claire from a local cheese maker - my niece came for dinner and she thought she didn't like blue cheese, so I made half the quiche with Gruyere, but slipped in a sliver with blue, and she liked it. I agree that some blues have an overpowering flavour - unlike aficionados, I don't like the feeling of the cheese mould entering my sinuses from the blue. But the Bleu Clair has the flavour of blue cheese without the aggressiveness of the stronger types, perfect for blue-virgins and sensitives like myself.

1 pre-baked pie shell, completely cooled

2 Tbsps (1oz/28gr) butter

1 lb fennel, finely chopped

8 oz crumbled blue cheese or grated Gruyère

Optional: handful of toasted walnuts

5 eggs (3 eggs and 2 egg yolks)

1 cup cream or crème fraîche

salt and pepper to season

1. Melt the butter and sautée the fennel until it starts to brown and is soft. The fennel will not cook while the custard is baking, which means it has to be thoroughly cooked in the pan.
2. Meanwhile, mix the eggs and cream together and season the mixture with salt and pepper.
3. Layer the fennel at the bottom of the baked pie crust, then layer with the cheese of your choice (and toasted walnuts if using).
4. Pour egg mixture over the filling. Bake the pie at 375°F for 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is set.
5. To keep the quiche warm, cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in a preheated oven at 200-250F.

Pan-Fried Fennel

I love fennel, I think it's my favourite vegetable, so I try to find different ways of introducing it into meals. Lately I've been looking for side dishes to accompany protein meals. This, I think, is the most delicious dish in relation to its utter simplicity. And it's fennel. And, oh, ok, it's Laura Calder's!

1 large fennel bulb

Salt and pepper

2 Tbsps. olive oil

1. Trim the fennel bulb and cut into slices about 1/4-inch/1/2 centimetre thick (I cut them on the length of the bulb so that the base which I usually cut out remains and keeps the leaves together). 
2. Season with salt and pepper. 
3. Heat the oil in a heavy sauté pan and fry on medium-high heat on both sides until tender and slightly golden.