Eggs Benedict with Plenty of Fennel

When Anise was young she would practise running a marathon to school and back from school every day.

In ancient Greece, the word for fennel was marathon. In Anise's world, they commemorate the origins of the word by awarding you fennel for winning a marathon. Since Anise could win a marathon with both legs tied up, she ended up with a lot of fennel.

With metabolism like a racehorse, she ate all the time, and usually something with fennel. So it was inevitable that she would one day make eggs Benedict with fennel bulb and fennel seeds, garnished with fennel fronds, and when she did so a heavenly procession of cherubs raced in to pronounce her a saint.

1 large fennel bulb with fronds

vegetable oil for roasting

salt and fresh-cracked pepper

1 recipe hollandaise sauce

2 Tbsp whole fennel seeds

2 Tbsp white vinegar (any kind)

8 eggs

4 English muffins split in half

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

First prep your fennel way ahead, as it takes 2 1/2 hours to roast. Cut off the tops of the fennel so you are left with the main bulb, but reserve the tops and pick off the most tender tiny fronds and chop them for mixing into the hollandaise. Trim off the dirty bottom root end. With the bottom facing up, cut the fennel into 8 wedges-each wedge should be held together by the root end. Lay the wedges in a baking dish and drizzle on some oil, then flip them over to drizzle them on the other side. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Cover the dish with foil and roast for 2 1/2 hours.

When the fennel is done roasting, you can start the rest of the recipe.

Make a batch of hollandaise sauce.

To poach the eggs, fill a large pot with about 4 inches of water. Add the fennel seeds when the water comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium so it maintains a gentle simmer. Add the vinegar.

Toast the English muffins.

Poach no more than 4 eggs at a time. Crack an egg into a small bowl without breaking the yolk, dip the bowl on an angle into the water, and gently tip the egg into the water. Repeat with each egg. Try not to poach your fingers.

When the egg is in the water, don't mess around with it-just let the egg white set up. The egg should then float to the surface, but if it doesn't, very gently use a spatula to coax it off the bottom. After about 4 to 5 minutes, when the egg white is firm and there is just a slight jiggle around the yolk, remove the egg from the water with a slotted spoon.

Place 2 toasted English muffin halves on a plate, and top each half with 1 wedge of fennel fanned out nicely. Lay your poached egg on the fennel. Stir in the fennel fronds into the hollandaise at the last minute, and smother on a generous golden blanket of hollandaise sauce.

Serve with slices of melon or some pan-fried potatoes.
Serves 4