Hi everyone! I’m Rachel Danae from the blog Not Rachael Ray. I write about easy and delicious recipes.  I have a daughter and a slightly picky but extremely appreciative husband to feed every day. Oh, and I don’t really have anything against the superstar chef, in case you were wondering. I’m just not her. And you probably won’t catch me saying “yum-o.” EVOO? Maybe.

I was so excited when Justin asked me to guest post because every time I get a package in the mail from Marx Foods, it feels like Christmas. I’m kinda in love with this company of his. On this specific occasion, I was provided with fennel pollen, dried chilies, coconut sugar, granulated candy cap mushrooms, and vanilla beans. I was given the challenge of creating a chocolate recipe with one or more of these quality ingredients.

First, I bought chocolate.

Then I panicked a little.

I needed to do some research.  I wanted to know as much as possible about each of the ingredients I had available for my use. Luckily for me, Marx Foods has some great resources on their website providing information about their products.

Next, I put aside the coconut sugar and vanilla beans. I knew I was going to make a dessert and I wanted a real challenge. These were too “obvious” of dessert ingredients.

Then I started cooking. Pudding. I’ve never made homemade pudding. I found a great recipe on Smitten Kitchen that involved no tempering of eggs. And she gave it rave reviews. I thought, I can do this! I knew I wanted to make three types, so I divided the recipe in thirds because I didn’t want 18 servings of pudding. However, the recipes printed here for 6 servings of pudding, so if you decide to make all three, you may want to adjust the recipes accordingly.

So, without further ado, I present you with:
● White Chocolate, Lemon and Fennel Pollen Pudding
● Milk Chocolate Candy Cap Mushroom Pudding
● Dark Chocolate Pudding Infused with Puya Chilies

If you’re skeptical, give these a try anyway. The flavors are all there but they work really well and give each pudding a special little twist. Candy cap mushrooms have a great maple flavor, and fennel pollen has a nice black licorice type flavor. If you’re still skeptical, the puddings can each be made without these special ingredients, but you’ll be missing out. Take my word on it! I think these would be great served in shot glasses on a small plate. My servings are a little bigger because I didn’t have 3 matching shot glasses. And because I’m a piggy.

White Chocolate, Lemon and Fennel Pollen Pudding
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoons lemon zest
3 cups whole milk (I didn’t have whole so I used half skim and half heavy cream)
6 ounces white chocolate coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 tsp fennel pollen, plus extra for garnishing

1. In the top of a double boiler (I use a heatproof glass bowl over a large saucepan with a small amount of water in it), combine cornstarch, sugar and salt. Whisk in the milk slowly and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the lemon zest. Heat over simmering water, stirring occasionally and using a whisk if lumps form. (After I scraped down the sides, I usually used a whisk to take care of the lumps that would appear after scraping the bowl). Once the mixture starts to thicken and coat the back of the spoon (15-20 minutes), add in the white chocolate and continue to stir for 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick.

2. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and fennel pollen.

3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into serving bowls (or into a large measuring cup so you can pour more neatly). Note: I wanted the flavor of the fennel pollen and lemon to be infused and for the pudding to still be smooth. If you’d prefer a stronger flavor, stir in the lemon zest and the fennel pollen after straining the pudding.

4. Place plastic wrap on the top of the pudding if you do not want “skin.” Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and top with extra fennel pollen before serving.

Milk Chocolate Candy Cap Mushroom Pudding
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tsp finely ground (I used a coffee/spice grinder) candy cap mushrooms plus extra for garnishing
3 cups whole milk (I didn’t have whole so I used half skim and half heavy cream)
6 ounces milk chocolate coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. In the top of a double boiler (I use a heatproof glass bowl over a large saucepan with a small amount of water in it), combine cornstarch, sugar, salt and ground candy cap mushrooms. Whisk in the milk slowly and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Heat over simmering water, stirring occasionally and using a whisk if lumps form. (After I scraped down the sides, I usually used a whisk to take care of the lumps that would appear after scraping the bowl). Once the mixture starts to thicken and coat the back of the spoon (15-20 minutes), add in the milk chocolate and continue to stir for 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick.

2. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into serving bowls (or into a large measuring cup so you can pour more neatly).
Place plastic wrap on the top of the pudding if you do not want “skin.” Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and top with extra ground candy cap mushrooms before serving.

Dark Chocolate Pudding Infused with Puya Chilies
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 whole puya chile, reconstituted and coarsely chopped
3 cups whole milk (I didn’t have whole so I used half skim and half heavy cream)
6 ounces dark chocolate (mine was 60%) coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
cayenne powder for garnishing

1. In the top of a double boiler (I use a heatproof glass bowl over a large saucepan with a small amount of water in it), combine cornstarch, sugar and salt. Whisk in the milk slowly and use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Add in chopped puya chile. Heat over simmering water, stirring occasionally and using a whisk if lumps form. (After I scraped down the sides, I usually used a whisk to take care of the lumps that would appear after scraping the bowl). Once the mixture starts to thicken and coat the back of the spoon (15-20 minutes), add in the dark chocolate and continue to stir for 3-4 minutes until smooth and thick.

2. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

3. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into serving bowls (or into a large measuring cup so you can pour more neatly).

4. Place plastic wrap on the top of the pudding if you do not want “skin.” Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and garnish with cayenne pepper before serving. (Or you could grind your own chile powder from extra puya chilies but I took a short cut.)

Verdict: Yum, Yum, and Yum.

Husband’s take: Only tried the dark chocolate variety–which I didn’t tell him included chile peppers (shh!), but he loved it. The flavor is muted and just subtly adds a complexity and deepness to the pudding.  Note: Later, I told my (non-adventurous when it comes to food) husband what each of the puddings had in them. His exact words? “Eww!” Then, the next thing that came out of his mouth, “It was so good, I could eat it every day.” Let me know if you can figure that one out.

Changes I would make: None!

Difficulty: Lots of stirring and standing over a double boiler to make three types, but other than that, very easy!

These crispy squash blossoms, filled with a creamy cheese filling spiked with fresh orange zest and pine nuts, really shine when finished with a light dusting of fennel pollen.

This version of the filling has a strong orange & nutty flavor with a very light goat cheese tang.  If you want to increase the goat cheese flavor just substitute more chevre for some of the ricotta. The nut and zest amounts can also be varied to suit your taste.

You’ll have extra tempura batter left over, but it won’t keep very long.  Try dipping and frying all sorts of fresh veggies for an exciting cornucopia of accompaniments.

Ingredients: (Enough for about 14 squash blossoms)
About 14 Fresh Squash Blossoms
½ cup Ricotta Cheese
6 tbsp Fresh Goat’s Cheese (aka Chevre)
1 tsp Orange Zest, freshly grated & finely chopped
4 tsp Pine Nuts
1 Egg Yolk
1 cup Rice Flour
¾ cup or more Sparkling Water
2 heavy pinches of salt
Fennel Pollen for garnish
about 1 gallon of Canola Oil for frying (could substitute Peanut Oil)

Directions:

1.  Mix together all the filling ingredients in a bowl with a spatula, making sure to get the mixture nice and smooth.  Load the filling into a piping bag or zip top bag (you’ll clip a corner to use it as a piping bag).  The filling can be made ahead and stored in your refrigerator.

2.  Heat the canola oil in a fryer or heavy Dutch oven to 375°F.

3.  Use the piping bag to fill each squash blossom. (How to Stuff Squash Blossoms)

4.  Make the Tempura Batter: Just before you’re planning to serve the blossoms, combine the egg yolk, rice flour, salt, and sparkling water in a bowl.  Depending on your rice flour, you may need to add more water to thin or more flour to thicken in order to get the right consistency (you want a thin batter that clings to food in an opaque layer).

5.  Dip each blossom in the tempura batter and immediately transfer to the hot oil.  Don’t fry more than five or six at a time, you don’t want to crowd the oil.

6.  Turn each blossom as necessary to cook them on all sides.  This tempura recipe crisps but doesn’t brown much, so use its texture as a cue to doneness rather than its color.

7.  Remove the cooked blossoms from the oil, and drain them on paper towels.  Let the oil reheat to 375, then cook another batch or vegetables you’ve dipped in the batter.

8.  Serve each blossom sprinkled with a pinch of fennel pollen.

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Browse More:
Squash Blossom Recipes
Edible Flower Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Cheese Recipes
Citrus Fruit Recipes

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February Fennel Pollen Friday: Fennel Pollen Pot de Creme

In the final recipe of the fennel pollen trilogy, I explore the sweeter side of this aromatic spice with fennel pollen scented custards, or pot de creme.  The flavor of the pot de creme with fennel pollen is fantastic, making it a delightful little dessert.

Ingredients: (4 miniature cup servings)

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon fennel pollen
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

To a small saucepan, add milk and fennel pollen.  Bring to boil, then cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Mix in a blender/food processor and strain.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar until the mixture is thick and smooth. Beat the eggs into the warm fennel pollen milk, whisking constantly.  Pour into espresso cups or small custard cups.  Place the cups in a baking dish and fill with water half-way up to the cups.  Place baking pan with cups on middle rack in oven.  Cover with foil and bake on 350° until custards are set around edges but still slightly wobbly in centers, 20 to 25 minutes.  If still not done, remove the foil and cook for a little bit more until the custards reach the desired consistency.

Transfer the cups to a rack to cool completely, uncovered.  Chill, covered, at least 3 hours or overnight.

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Browse More:
Dessert Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Exotic Spice Recipes

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February Fennel Pollen Friday: Seared Bay Scallops with Fennel Pollen Air

Culinary foams help to concentrate a lot of flavor in just a spoonful of this magical air.  A foam made with already intense fennel pollen is incredibly flavorful.  Adding the fennel pollen air foam to the seared scallops changes this simple dish into an excellent seafood course that could be part of a tasting menu in a 5-star restaurant.

Ingredients: (makes 4 tasting portions)

2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cup small Bay scallops
Coarse salt to taste
Chives (optional)

1/2 cup stock
1 teaspoon lecithin
1 teaspoon fennel pollen

Directions:

Melt butter in a skillet until foamy.  Rinse the scallops and pat them dry.  Sprinkle with salt.  Sear the scallops for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown.

Meanwhile, add stock, lecithin, and fennel pollen into a mixing cup.  Blend with immersion blender until the foam forms.  Let it stand for a few minutes and then scoop just the foam and gently place on top of the scallops.  Garnish with chives if desired.

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Browse More:
Scallop Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Exotic Spice Recipes

February Fennel Pollen Friday: Cauliflower Fennel Pollen Bisque

Fennel pollen is a fragrant spice with a mysterious flavor, reminiscent of fennel seeds but sweeter, a lot more aromatic and potent.  Fennel pollen is collected from the flowers of the fennel plant that grows wild on the sunny inland and coastal fields of California.  The flowers are collected at the peak of bloom and carefully dried and screened for the pollen.  It takes many fennel flowers to produce a small amount of the pollen, making this spice almost as expensive as saffron.  However, only a small pinch of fennel pollen is required to add an intriguing and intense aromatic dimension of flavor to seafood, meat, or vegetables.

On Fridays in February, I will explore this spice in three different dishes.  Today’s recipe shows how the addition of fennel pollen can enhance the taste of cauliflower in a creamy and deliciously aromatic bisque.

Ingredients: (makes 4 half-cup appetizer servings)

2 tablespoons butter
Cauliflower florets, about 2 cups
2/3 cup onions, chopped
1 parsnip, peeled, chopped
1 tablespoon fennel pollen
1 1/2 cup stock
1/2 cup cream
Salt, pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large saucepan, melt butter.  Add cauliflower, onion, and parsnips and cook the vegetables for 5-8 minutes until the onions are translucent.

Add fennel pollen, mix well.  Pour stock over and season with salt to taste.  Cook for about 20 minutes or until the vegetables are soft.

Blend well using immersion blender (can also use food processor or a regular blender).  Strain back into a saucepan.  Add cream and mix with an immersion blender.

Heat until the soup just starts to boil and serve immediately.

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Browse More:
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Spice Recipes
Produce Recipes

Let me start of by telling you that the minute I tasted this dish I got on the phone and had to call someone, when my friend answered I was so relieved because I thought I had died and gone to ravioli heaven. I am probably going to have to crack out the thesaurus because I dont know nearly enough words for “perfectly delicious.” This dish was so easy to put together, has only 7 ingredients and tastes like it came from some far away kingdom.

Without further ado here is the recipe for 4 appetizers or two pasta courses:

Peel and pulse 6 large Louisiana gulf shrimp with a generous slice off a fennel bulb some salt and pepper and a pinch of fennel pollen. (if you are counting we are at 5 ingredients already)

Make some pasta dough (these ingredients dont count)

Make raviolis and boil them until al dente.

For the sauce:

Finely chop some fennel and place into a saute pan with a dollop of butter and a little salt and heat until aromatic.  Once it graces your nose add cream to warm and its ready (the butter and cream brought us up to 7)

Pour some sauce on a plate and place the cooked ravioli on top of the sauce, put another small pinch of fennel pollen on top of everything and a few slivers of fennel for crunch – invite some kings and diplomats and enjoy.

If you think of better words for “perfectly delicious” now is the time to say them.

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Browse More:
Shrimp & Prawn Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Pasta Recipes
Exotic Spice Recipes

Fennel pollen is so rich and aromatic that it can hardly be compared to fennel the fresh vegetable. Immediately upon smelling it I knew I was going to have to make a compound butter and have it on a nicely aged Angus steak.

Compound butter is easy to make. In this case I took a few ounces of salted butter and a teaspoon of fennel pollen and mixed it together until it was completely incorporated. Roll the butter up in some plastic wrap and refrigerate to harden.

I took a perfectly aged steak and made sure it was dried off before I put it in hot grill pan for a few minutes on each side since I like mine pretty rare.

Grilled to my liking I let it rest a bit.

Then I put two nice slices of my fennel pollen butter and let it melt and do its magic. I also sprinkled a little more fennel pollen on the steak.

This is the easiest way I can think of to turn an ordinarily great steak into an extraordinarily fantastic steak. The fennel pollen mixed into the butter and also sprinkled on the steak was so out of this world tasty that even though this was more than a 12 ounce steak I could have easily eaten more simply for the flavor.

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Browse More:
Steak Recipes
Grass-Fed Beef Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Exotic Spice Recipes

The Foodie Blogroll and Marx Foods teamed up and sent a sample of Dulse Seaweed, Fennel Pollen, Bourbon Vanilla Beans, Maple Sugar, Dried Porcini Mushrooms, Tellicherry Peppercorns, Smoked Salt and Aji Panca Chilies to each of the 25 Iron Foodie Challengers.  Each blogger’s task was to create an original recipe incorporating at least 3 of the 8 ingredients.  As you’ll see below, the Iron Foodie Challengers delivered!

La Bouna Cucina’s timpano recipe was voted the best by readers of the Marx Foods blog, with Cookistry’s ice cream recipe being voted the best by the other bloggers participating.

Browse their incredibly inventive dishes below:

We Like to Cook!: Roman Oxtail Stew followed by Spicy Fennel Creme Brulee

The Well-Lived Life: Chinese Pork Confit Fresh Wraps with Vanilla-Maple Barbecue Sauce and Fennel-Dulse Slaw

The Smart Kitchen: Chile Cranilli Bacon Peanut Butter Sandwich & “Chee” Crab Sandwich

The Growing Foodie: Fennel Pollen Waffles with Vanilla-Chile Syrup & Maple Whipped Cream

The Colors of Indian Cooking: Chenna Poda Indian Style Cheesecake

Seriously Sassy: Spicy Gingerbread Biscotti with Maple Drizzle

Notes from the Alpha Test Kitchen: Toasted Ravioli

La Buona Cucina: Timpano di Maccheroni

Everyday Southwest: Aji Panca rubbed Pork Tenderloin with Porcini Tamale & Sweet Potato Haystack

Kate in the Kitchen: Warming Winter Soup

Kahakai Kitchen: Two Pepper Seared Ahi with Avocado-Dulse Yogurt Sauce, Porcini-Dulse Brown Rice & Smoky Lotus Chips

HyeThyme Cafe: Stuffed Pork Loin with Roasted Veggies & Cornbread

Foodalogue: Sweet, Spicy & Smoky Asian Shrimp

Dog Hill Kitchen: Cherry Pie Lattice Cookies

Cookistry: Ice Cream: Buttery, Salty, Sweet ‘n Nutty

Coco Cooks: Duck Rillettes on Goat Cheese Croquettes with Black Pepper Balsamic Cranberry Relish

Chez What?: Grilled Swordfish, Poached Baby Octopus & Fresh Cured Sardines

Chef It Yourself: Salt & Pepper Salmon with Fennel & Panca Cream

Can´t Believe We Ate: Porcini, Tellicherry & Smoked Salt Crusted Standing Rib Roast

Burnin´ Love BBQ: Potlach Salmon with Umami Risotto

Bite and Booze: Seared Duck Breast with Smoked Salt & Dried Chile over Homemade Pasta & Porcini Cream Sauce

At Home with Rebecka: Tang Yuan with Smoky Hoisin in Spicy Porcini, Seaweed Broth

Adventures of an Amateur Foodie: “Blasphemous” Guanciale Fennel Fried Rice

A Little Bite of Life:  Pfeffernusse Creme Brulee

A Good Appetite: Sweet & Spicy Spare Ribs

Thanks to all of the bloggers for contributing to this delicious recipe collection.  And a special thanks to the Foodie Blogroll for making this possible!

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Sweet Potato Dessert Dumplings with Fennel Pollen and Ginger

I dedicate this dessert to my mom.

Sweet potato holds a special place in her heart. Whenever she eats it, she retells how my grandfather would sometimes cook sweet potato in with their rice when she was little. During the war, rice was scarce and people scrounged for anything that could fill their stomachs. The luckier ones dug up sweet potatoes while the less fortunate were left with tree bark. Although my mom and her siblings did not experience the war, my grandfather continued to feed his family sweet potatoes to remind his children to be thankful always.

One of my mom’s favourite desserts is sweet potatoes simply cooked in a light ginger syrup. She and I also love another traditional Chinese dessert called “tong-yuen” in Cantonese (湯圓/湯丸), or literally “spheres in soup”. They are bite-size glutenous rice dumplings filled with a sweet paste made with savory ingredients such as black sesame, peanut, or red bean. They are served floating in a silky and sweet soup made from ground nuts (almond, walnut, peanut…), in the ginger syrup mentioned above, or rolled in crushed nuts and sesame.

Inspired by my mom, I combined her favourites to create a comforting dessert for this month’s Battle Sweet Potato. In brief, I mashed the purple sweet potato into a smooth paste, added fresh ginger juice, wrapped it in glutenous rice dough, cooked it, rolled it in crushed nuts, and sprinkled on some fennel pollen for fun.

Notes:

Purple sweet potato is prettier and often sweeter but use whatever you have on hand.

Fennel pollen provides a distinct floral aroma, coaxes out the ginger’s zing, and adds another dimension to the potato’s starchy sweetness. I also love to mix it with honey and drizzle it on top of toast, ice cream, cheesecake, and fruit. Marx Foods offers a high quality one that’s worth every penny.

Sweet Potato Dessert Dumplings with Fennel Pollen and Ginger

Ingredients

Ginger Sweet Potato Filling
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed. Approx 200 g (6 oz)
• 1/4 cup ginger juice
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tbs butter, softened
• 1 pinch of salt

Dough
• 200 g glutenous rice flour (7 oz) and more for dusting
• cold water

Topping
• 1/2 cup of your favourite nuts, crushed finely with a rolling pin (peanut, almond, cashew…)
• 1/4 cup of toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
• fennel pollen

Directions

Filling:

Steam the sweet potato cubes until very tender, around 15 minutes. Alternately, microwave it with some water on high for 5-10 minutes, stirring midway through. Mash the sweet potato into a paste with the remaining ingredients. Pass it through a colander to remove any lumps and fibres. Wrap and chill in the fridge.

Dough:

Combine the rice flour and 1/4 cup of cold water in a large bowl. Gradually add more water until the dough forms a ball that releases cleanly from the bowl. Knead and punch the dough for 5 minutes. The dough is ready when your fist leaves a solid imprint. Keep covered.

To form the dumplings:

Dust your hands with flour. Pinch off a piece of dough the size of a large grape and roll it into a ball. Flatten it and fill it with 1-2 tsp of filling. Seal the edges tightly while squeezing out air and roll the dumpling back into a sphere. Place onto a pre-dusted baking sheet.

The dumplings can be frozen and stored for 1 month.

To assemble:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Drop the dumplings in and add cold water if necessary to maintain a soft boil. Meanwhile, combine the crushed nuts, sesame, and sugar and place onto a plate.

Once the dumplings float, drain them, plop them onto the nut mixture and roll them until they are fully coated. Fresh dumplings should only take 2-3 minutes to cook while frozen ones will take a few minutes longer.

To serve:

Place the dumpling balls onto spoons or dessert dishes. Sprinkle on fennel pollen and serve immediately.

Makes 2 dozen.

I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as my mom did! What’s the best food-related story your parents or grandparents have ever told you?

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Browse More:
Dessert Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Root & Rhizome Recipes
Sweetener Recipes

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Bartolomeo Scappi  (1500-1577)

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Browse More:
Steak Recipes
Fennel Pollen Recipes
Tenderloin Recipes
Grass-Fed Beef Recipes