Tag Archives: Fennel

Pork Burgers with fennel and apple slaw

I initially prepared this recipe to make skinless sausages. They were delicious, but before I got around to posting the recipe, I decided to make the pork mix into burgers instead. The succulent pork burger with fennel seeds and apple pairs perfectly with the fennel bulb and apple slaw. Very easy to make, cook and serve. This burger will certainly pass as a gourmet burger if you are entertaining with the barbecue!

Ingredients

For the burgers
500g pork mince
1 med granny smith apple
1 med onion
1 1/2 Tbs fennel seeds, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle
A pinch of salt and pepper

For the slaw
1 cup of finely shredded fennel
1 cup of finely Julianne green apple
1 cup finely shredded cabbage (use red cabbage to add some colour)
1 tablespoon of lime juice (or lemon)
1 – 2 tablespoons of whole egg mayonnaise
Salt and pepper to taste

To serve
Goat cheese (optional)
4 sourdough buns

Method

Make the slaw by mixing all the slaw ingredients in a bowl, toss well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Grate apple and onion into a fine sieve over a large mixing bowl. Squeeze the juice out of the apple and onion and collect it in the bowl below. Put the juice into a small saucepan. Bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until reduced to about one tablespoon of liquid.

Put the pork mince, grated apple, onion, fennel seeds, a little salt and pepper, and the reduced apple and onion juice into the large bowl. With a clean hand, mix the mince until everything is well blended.

Shape the mince into four patties.

Cook the pork burger patties on the grill, BBQ, or in a frypan until cooked through.

To serve

Cut the buns in half and place the pork burger patty on the bottom half. Top with cheese and the slaw.

Bon Appétit

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BBQ Marlin Fillets with Grapefruit, Fennel, Lime and Dill Salad.

Dwayne barbecued the marlin fillets, while I threw together a salad of mixed lettuce leaves, ruby grapefruit, thinly sliced fennel, red onion, cucumber, tomato and spring onions.

For the dressing I used  dill, lime and a little olive oil. Simple, yet really enjoyable.

Fresh fruity salad with BBQ marlin fillet

Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli

Restocking the boat with fresh fruit and veg is always a challenge. What fruit and veg will stay the freshest the longest?… that sort of thing. While at Mooloolaba we went to the supermarket and, surrounded by fresh fruit and vegetables, I went a little crazy. Forgetting I only have a small fridge on the boat I bought lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, fennel bulbs, chillies, zuchinni, capsicum, carrots, swede, and more. Of course when I got it all back to the boat there was no way I was going to fit it all in my fridge. Some of it was able to go into the bilge with the potatoes and onions, (i.e. swede and carrots), but others such as the lettuce and cucumbers needed to go into the fridge.

Anyway that dilemma led to me deciding to have a salad for lunch. My next dilemma was how to serve a salad to Dwayne for lunch without him thinking I am trying to starve him to death! After a search through the fridge I discovered we still had some pickled octopus left. (The occy we caught in Fame Cove).

Pickled Octopus
Pickled Octopus

So this is what I did…

I made a simple salad of lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, chopped tomato, sliced red onion, thinly sliced fennel bulb and sliced green chilli. I arranged the salad on a platter and topped it with sliced pickled octopus. I wasn’t sure how to dress this salad. What would go with the pickle flavour of the octopus? I decided to do a simple aioli of whole egg mayo and lime juice. I used bottled lime which I always have on hand on the boat. I mixed quite a lot of lime with the mayo to make a thin dressing, which I drizzled over the salad.

Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli
Pickled Octopus Salad with Lime Aioli

It worked really well. We thought the flavours complemented each other. Dwayne loved it and because it had something other than just veggies i.e. the occy, he didn’t accuse me of feeding him diet food!