I went to Giant to pick up some milk and bananas. The usually lackluster produce section (What is it about produce in Northern Virginia? The produce at the stores in my area is generally made of Fail and brown slimy spots) had six spectacularly fresh and fabulous-looking fennels on display. I grabbed the two most spectacular, because when am I going to see good fennel again? Probably not till next February.
Sadly, fennels do not have the handy little PLU stickers and the cashier probably hadn't seen fennel since last February. She called around to other cashiers to see if anyone knew the code or had the chart of codes.
"What is it?"
"Fennel, anise."
"You mean anus?"
"No, a-niece!"
"Uh, fennel?" I chimed in. Fennel and anise are not the same plant.
"No, they never list it under fennel. I guess they think you'll find anise faster," she said. The list of produce is in alphabetical order.
"Yeah, but people can say fennel."
"4515!"
I wonder if I can remember the PLU till next February?
176 words | February 17, 2009 07:58 PM | KitchenOkay, I have to ask (having just bought fennel for the 3rd time in my life today): how do you use this under-appreciated vegetable?
Posted by: Janice at March 1, 2009 12:36 AMI'll try and post my recipe tomorrow (was going to do it tonight, but travel delays have put me behind). I simmer it with tomatoes, white beans, and crushed red pepper for a nice stew type of dish. In the meantime, here's a recipe for roasted fennel which looks pretty tasty too.
Posted by: 100 word minimum at March 1, 2009 10:03 PM