Fennel Apple Bisque

 
Were you getting tired of seeing the April Food Day logo?

Yeah, me too.

Not that it's not a great idea but enough of it until next April.

In the meantime, how about a little soup instead? Let's just do a quick practice run to see if I still have this blogging thing in me.

Fennel soup in all its many variations has been an ongoing theme of mine. I've made Fennel Leek Soup, Squash and Fennel Soup, Celeriac, Fennel, and Potato Soup, and Tomato Fennel Soup. I have never met a fennel soup I didn't like. This one is subtle, definitely on the sweet side (when I make it again I'll probably use more watercress) but delicious and even Mike who can't abide fruit in savory foods liked it. A worthy addition to my fennel soup lineup.

Sunset Magazine's Fennel Apple Bisque

1 large fennel bulb (about 1 1/2 lbs with the stalks still on it) 
2 tablespoons  butter
1 large onion, roughly chopped
4 cups  chicken broth (or use vegetable broth if you prefer)
2 large Fuji apples, peeled, cored,  chopped
Leaves from one bunch of watercress (you should have about 1 cup of leaves) 
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
Crumbled blue cheese for garnish

1. Trim root end and stalks from fennel bulb, reserving some of the fronds for garnish. Chop bulb to make about 4 cups.

2. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, melt butter, add onion, and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add broth, fennel, and apple. Cover and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until fennel is soft when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in watercress and cook until wilted.

3. Purée soup in a blender in batches, holding lid down with a towel, or use a stick blender. (It will be smoother with a regular blender but if you're ok with a more rustic texture, the stick blender is certainly easier.) Pour back into pan, thin with more broth if needed, and reheat. Taste and season with salt and freshly ground pepper

4. Garnish with fennel fronds and crumbled blue cheese and serve.

Comments

[Sian]

I am glad you're back, I'd only just found your blog and then you'd disappeared! I must thank you for introducing my to Skye Gyngell though, and for this soup-I've a glut of apples (to say the least) and trying desperately to come up with as many ways as possible to eat them!

[Tracy]

A new post! Woo hoo! I wonder if this soup will work on my sweetie. He is not a fruit with savory person either. It looks delicious.

[MR]

Welcome back K**graphy!

[Elizabeth]

Yayyyyyyy Julie! That soup sounds awesome, love the bleu cheese! So
I'm making this ice cream from daniels dish and it mentions that you
can pair it with rose' champagne! What do you think?

[Beth]

I have to admit I've read through a lot of your archives and I was hoping you would be back. YAY!

[The Food Hunter]

I plan to make some sort of fennel soup for thanksgiving. This sounds like a good one to try.

[Lydia (The Perfect Pantry)]

I make fennel and potato gratin for Thanksgiving every year, and a fennel and blue cheese salad in the summer. This soup seems to combine elements of both of those dishes, so for sure I'm going to have to try it.

[BMoreSweet]

THANK GOD YOU'RE BACK!!! About damned time.... :-)

B More Sweet

[adele]

Welcome back!

If I can find watercress someplace other than my local supermarket (it tends to look pretty sad), I think I'll try this. :)

[pigtown*design]

about damn time. i was so bloody sick of that april food day logo mocking me.

this does sound like one of the Petersham Nurseries (sigh) recipes.

[Wendi]

Welcome back Julie. Nice to see you posting.

[theminx]

Yum! And...welcome back! (I need to change my subscription to your feed because this post did not show up in Bloglines.)

[chez danisse]

This looks really interesting. I was planning on making a soup tonight and now I'm going to try this one. Thanks!

[LittleRockCatering]

Yummy! Will try this tonight..

[term papers]

NICE BLOG

[Little Rock Wedding]

Yummy....

Little Rock Wedding