I made this wonderful, fresh tasting salad at Christmas last year. It's a nice way to use some fennel, although not the fronds, and turns a beautiful, rich beet color if left to sit for a while.

From Martha Stewart:
Fennel Beet and Carrot Salad.
For the Salad
1 fennel bulb, trimmed
5 medium carrots
2 large beets, trimmed and peeled
For the Vinaigrette
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 shallot, halved and very thinly sliced
Coarse salt
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Make the salad: Quarter fennel bulb lengthwise, and cut out core. Very thinly slice fennel lengthwise into strips using a mandoline or sharp knife. Cover with a damp paper towel in a glass dish.
Grate carrots, then beets, on the large holes of a box grater. Arrange side by side with fennel. Keep covered with damp paper towel, and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Make the vinaigrette: Toast fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium-high heat, shaking skillet occasionally, until fragrant but not browned, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl, and add orange juice, vinegar, lemon juice, shallot, and 1 teaspoon salt. Gradually whisk in oil.
Toss fennel, beets, and carrots with vinaigrette in a large bowl. Serve immediately.

I make a similar salad, athough mine is fennel and green apple with lemon dressing. You can also add it to coleslaw if that kind of salad is too far out there for your tastes. I also love it roasted alongside other roasted vegetables, which would go well with your short ribs. The fronds can be chopped and added to whatever you are putting the bases in, the leaves have a very, very delicate taste, not overpowering.

FISH SOUP WITH FENNEL
â¨~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Slice fennel and onion thinly. Cut the slices in half to make them more manageable when eating.

2. Saute the fennel and onion in olive oil until softened.

3. Add fish broth. If I don't have fish broth on hand, I use instant dashi or fish boullion cubes.

4. Cut up some of the fennel fronds and add them to the soup. This is for color.

5. Cut fish in bite size pieces. I use ocean perch when available but other firm white fish is fine. Add the fish.

6. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.

Quantities are not critical. Make them to your taste.

Jim

I like to chop them up and saute them with onions, garlic, carrots for vegetable soup. Then I add whatever other vegetables are lingering in the fridge in roughly the order that they will take to cook. Some wine, some broth, and a can of tomatoes. Flavor with a bay leaf, herbs and a parmesan rind, if I have one.

lpinkmountain mentioned roasting, which is my very favorite way to eat it...this is the method I use:

Here is a link that might be useful: Roasted Fennel with balsamic

Wine? Wine? OMG! I forgot to include some white wine in my soup recipe!

Jim

I've never used fennel at home but just seeing it takes me back to a time when I was visiting Tuscany with a group of gardeners. One of our stops was a cheese making facility and after we had toured the place they served us fennel with lots of different cheeses and white wine. Later they served us biscotti.

Thanks for the memories.

jude

Chicken roasted on bread dressing with shiitakes and fennel

A whole, medium roasting chicken, cut in half, back pieces reserved
Stale baguette, cut into 1" cubes
Medium onion, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery with leaves, sliced
Small bulb fennel, sliced
8 oz. fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and quartered
Poultry seasoning, salt and pepper

Choose a deep dish just large enough to hold the chicken. Generously butter bottom and sides. Toss all ingredients for the dressing and place in the dish. Lay chicken on top, using back pieces to fill in gaps so dressing is entirely covered with the poultry.

Roast in a 375 oven for an hour or more until chicken tests done with meat thermometer. Serve with cranberry sauce.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a wonderful one dish meal. The chicken juices baste the bread, the veggies steam under the bird and the butter gives a nice crusty outside to the dressing. I once had an actual recipe for this from the Boston Globe but now I just wing it in terms of quantities and cooking time.

seagrass

Thanks for the ideas. The fennel has been successfully used.

One bulb was used as an aromatic along with onion for the braised short ribs.

The other went into a salad tonight along the lines of what oly and pink suggested. I went with apple and fennel because we had a green apple on hand. For the dressing I used fresh apple cider and lime juice instead of lemon and orange juice.

The salad went well with stir fried beef with peppers and mushrooms. I didn't put fennel seed in because I put fronds in and felt that was enough fennel flavor. DH who can be picky about new flavors liked it.