Celery and Fennel with Bacon - Iron Chef II

This was taken from Epicurious.com and originally published in Gourmet Magazine.  It serves 8.  The reviews advise adding a bit of dried thyme which I intend to do.

Ingredients

1 bunch celery, with leaves
2 large fennel bulbs (sometimes called anise), with fronds
1/4 lb sliced bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup chopped shallot
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Preparation

Reserve 1/2 cup celery leaves. Remove strings from celery ribs with peeler, then cut celery ribs into 3- by 1/4-inch sticks.

Reserve 1/2 cup fennel fronds. Trim fennel stalks flush with bulbs. Cut any brown spots from outer layers and quarter bulbs lengthwise. Cut out most of cores, leaving enough to hold layers together. Cut bulbs lengthwise into 1/4-inch-wide slices.

Have ready 2 large bowls of ice and water. Cook celery ribs in a large pot of boiling salted water 2 minutes, then transfer with a slotted spoon to 1 bowl of ice water. Return water to a boil and cook fennel bulbs 2 minutes, then transfer to second bowl of ice water. When vegetables are cool, drain both in a colander.

Cook bacon in a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until crisp, then transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Add shallot to bacon fat and cook, stirring, until softened. Add celery and fennel and cook, stirring, until vegetables begin to brown, about 10 minutes. Add broth and simmer, stirring frequently, until vegetables are barely tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

Coarsely chop reserved celery leaves and fennel fronds. Remove pot from heat and stir in leaves, fronds, parsley, bacon, and salt and pepper to taste.

Nutritional Information:

Calories 134.8,   Total Fat 7.5 g, Saturated Fat 2.6 g, Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g, Monounsaturated Fat 3.5 g, Cholesterol 12.4 mg, Sodium 512.0 mg, Potassium 625.2 mg, Total Carbohydrate 10.4 g, Dietary Fiber 3.0 g,  Protein 7.5 g

I will be cooking this later this week and will publish review then.

[TrudieC]

I made this tonight but won't again.  The bacon was good, but then again, when is bacon not.  There isn't enough bacon to make this wow!  Actually the celery overwhelmed the flavours.  At least I learned that the fennel does not have too strong of a licorice flavour and I will enjoy cooking with it again in other recipes.  I think SK123's cioppino will be next!

[peekawho]

I was thinking too that the fennel would sort of overpower a dish, but it really didn't.  

[sk123]

Celery does tend to be overpowering. In soups, you usually only use 1 or 2 stalks. I can't believe this recipe called for a whole bunch. That just seems like way too much.

I won't try this since you didn't love it. I'm so behind in all the recipes to try. Let me know what you think of the cioppino.