My first, favorite, and funniest memories at Caputo’s all began with the classes. Tony has taught me as much as the matriarchs of my own family—from culinary technique to developing my own personal style of cooking, I have so much to thank the Caputo’s for. Taking over the cooking classes was incredibly intimidating, but also incredibly rewarding. Tony left some big shoes to fill, and I think my feet are finally starting to grow into them.

I love creating and finding recipes that use high quality ingredients and that don’t require millions of gizmos and gadgets to make successfully. The James Beard class taught at our downtown store was the perfect example of this. James Beard left a legacy of greatness, and it was such a great time to honor him and his plethora of books and recipes. My very favorite dish is one that I find myself making more often than I should probably admit.

Tarragon is a relatively recent love of mine. I grew up on parsley, rosemary, and thyme, so tarragon was a welcome new flavor I began using about 10 years ago. A decade later, this is my favorite way to let the flavor shine. The tarragon does the talking for this dish, which has a base of chicken, butter, and wine. Can it get any more simple than that? I made a small change to James’ orignal recipe by substituing Rose for Riesling. I’ll cook with rose any chance I’m given, and this is one of those times that created a lovely culinary moment for me. The process is quick, simple, and the aromas it gives off in those last 20 minutes of cooking are sheer heaven. Make this for you, make this for your loved ones, but just be sure you make this. James, Tony, and I would be proud.

Chicken Sauté with Tarragon
Serves 4
“The secret of good cooking is, first, having a love of it. … If you’re convinced that cooking is drudgery, you’re never going to be good at it, and you might as well warm up something frozen.” -James Beard

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• One 3 ½ pound chicken, quartered
• ½ cup Rose wine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon

Melt butter in a very large skillet (not uncoated cast iron) over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add chicken to the skillet, skin side down, and brown quickly, about 3 minutes. Turn chicken skin side up, add the wine, and reduce heat to medium-low. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with tarragon and continue cooking until the chicken shows no sign of pink near the thighbone. Arrange on a platter. Bring the pan juices to a boil over high heat, scraping up the browned bits in the skillet and reduce for about 2 minutes. Pour over chicken and serve.

All good things must come to an end, even fennel pollen week. I had way too much experimenting with this special ingredient and we’ve been reaping the benefits all week long. Plus, we saved the best for last. We’re looking at a warm weekend that I plan on filling with lots of outdoor activity and this semifreddo.

Like the name suggests, semifreddo is a semi-frozen treat that gets its decadent and luxurious texture from heavy cream and raw egg yolks. I used to call this the ‘lazy-girl gelato’ but I find myself making this even when I have plenty of time and energy to make gelato or ice cream instead. It’s just that good. Here, honey and fennel pollen combine for that transcendent little pairing discovery that we just can’t get enough of.

This is my favorite recipe of the week and I can’t wait for you to try it for yourself. I hope fennel pollen has found its way into your hearts and pantries this week like it has ours. Now, how about that weekend?!

Fennel Pollen Honey Semifreddo
Serves 10

• 1 egg
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup honey, plus more for drizzling
• 1 tablespoon fennel pollen
• 1 ½ cups cream

Line a medium loaf tin with plastic film. Beat the fennel pollen, egg, and egg yolks with the honey in a bowl until pale and thick. Whip the cream until it has thickened and doubled in volume. Fold in the egg and honey mixture and pour into the loaf tin. Freeze at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to serve, invert the semifreddo onto a serving platter and drizzle with extra honey and another sprinkle of fennel pollen. Serve slices immediately.

Thursday dinners are always a simple meal for me. I’ve gotten over the hump of Wednesday, but it’s not quite the weekend. I love cooking for friends any chance I get, but whether it’s dinner for one or dinner for five, Thursdays are all about simplicity. I’m limited on time for dinner prep since I’ve spent the day here at Caputo’s and I’m a little pooped from the rest of the week, I’m always reaching for my quick, but still delicious recipes.

Potatoes are just the kind of blank canvas I need for a quick starch side dish. Let’s be honest, there’s likely a whole chicken roasting in the oven and a salad waiting to be dressed and tossed. I’m a woman of simple pleasures during the week, but it wouldn’t be a meal at my house without some kind of starch. Enter the potatoes. An easy roast and a few quick toppings later, I have a complete meal.

Our fennel pollen feast this last weekend was my final chance to make sure our recipes were in check before sharing them with you. I love being part of these little meals with my work family. It’s great to see everyone sans aprons and enjoy their company. Tricia, our lovely manager of the Holladay location, was a huge help with this meal. She took over the potatoes like the pro she is and those heavenly nuggets of golden roasted potatoes sung with dollops of chevre and a sprinkling of fennel pollen. Simple, easy, and lots of flavor. It’s exactly how I like my potatoes. Well-seasoned potatoes, tangy chevre, and sweet, aromatic fennel pollen? Sign me up.

My first recommendation to customers buying fennel pollen for the first time is the same theme as this dish: keep it simple. Make something you love that’s incredibly simple and finish it with a dusting of fennel pollen. Tomato sauces, roasted vegetables, simple baked goods, and lightly seasoned roasted meats are all great ways to begin familiarizing yourself with fennel pollen. This is a great side to poultry dishes as they won’t overpower a milder protein, but I also love these served alongside anything grilled. I’m looking forward to the warm weekend and I think these will be part of at least one meal in the next few days.

Fennel Pollen & Chevre Roasted Potatoes
Serves 4-6

• 1 1/2 pounds waxy potatoes, cut into large cubes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces chevre
• 2 teaspoons fennel pollen

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cubed potatoes with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Spread in one layer across a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet and toss potatoes once more. Bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until tender and golden brown.

Remove potatoes to a serving bowl. Crumble chevre over potatoes and fold into potatoes. Finish potatoes with fennel pollen and any additional salt if needed. Serve immediately.

We’ve had so much fun trying new recipes out with our beloved fennel pollen in preparation for this week, but it’s time to touch on a classic recipe for today. There are few things in this world that love each other as much as pork and fennel do. It’s a lovely symbiotic relationship that enhances the flavor of high quality pork and the aroma of the fennel pollen. You’ll find various cuts of pork prepared with fennel pollen, seeds, or the entire vegetable across all of Northern Italy, but Piemonte is where I would pinpoint this combination if I had to. Let me tell, those Northern Italians had this figured out. Pork loves fennel and fennel loves pork, it’s just that easy.

Here, we’ll use the pollen as a rub for tenderloin. The longer it can rest on the meat before cooking, the better. I would also suggest cooking the pork until the internal temperature hits 145 degrees. This will keep it from drying out. If you prefer a more well done protein, there’s no shame in a little extra cooking time. We’ll finish this dish with a drizzle of Tuscan condiment olive oil, so that extra hydration will go a long way for a longer cooked loin.

Give this classic a try. The weather is back on the cusp of warming up and this is a good, lighter protein option I love serving alongside farro or a big salad. Enjoy your daily dose of fennel pollen!

Fennel Pollen Pork Loin
Serves 4

• 1 pound pork tenderloin
• 1 clove garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons fennel pollen, divided
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• condiment grade olive oil, like Laudemio

Cut about 4 shallow slits in the tenderloin, lengthwise, and stuff slices of garlic evenly amongst the slits. Combine 3 teaspoons of fennel pollen with the salt and pepper and rub all over the loin along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.  Allow to sit at least 20 minutes, ideally 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat with the remaining olive oil. Brown all sides of the tenderloin, about 2 minutes per side. Move skillet to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes, until internal temperature reaches 140 degrees.

Allow loin to rest about 10 minutes on a cutting board. Slice loin, remove to a serving platter and drizzle with your condiment olive oil of choice.

I couldn’t give you a week of fennel pollen without throwing some sweet treats at you, now could I? Another reason I love fennel pollen is its ability to transcend the lines that often divide sweet and savory ingredients. It’s often easy to place an ingredient beneath the sweet or savory banner, but that is not the case here. If someone asked me to choose using fennel pollen in either sweet or savory applications for the rest of my life, I’d be hard-pressed to choose.

This cake is the stuff of legend as far as I’m concerned. It’s not too sweet and gets a hint of tanginess from the buttermilk that is only amplified by the vanilla creme fraiche dolloped on top. I’ve served this for birthdays, team gatherings, dinner parties, and pity parties. The fennel pollen takes this to a place where warm cake and bright, summery fennel flavors meet and have a dance party on your taste buds. Naturally, you’ll want to throw some poached pears or berries on the side of this, which I fully support. This cake- and the creme fraiche- loves fruit. Try it with whatever is in season, or keep it simple with the creme fraiche. Either way, your life needs a little sweetness and you deserve an extra dose of fennel pollen. Enjoy!

Fennel Pollen Buttermilk Cake
Serves 12

• 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel pollen
• 2/3 cup buttermilk
• 1 cup crème fraîche
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and line it with a 9-inch round of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer, beat the butter with both sugars at medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add the yolks, one at a time, beating well between additions. Beat in fennel pollen. At low speed, alternately beat in the flour mixture and the buttermilk until almost blended. With a rubber spatula, finish folding the mixture together just until smooth. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack to cool completely.

In a small bowl, combine the crème fraîche, vanilla seeds and confectioners’ sugar.

Unmold the cake onto a plate, top with vanilla crème fraiche, and serve.

It’s here, the most exciting week for food to date has finally arrived. Matt and I share a serious love for fennel pollen, so we’re taking full advantage of that love and it’s taking over the blog this week.

IT’S FENNEL POLLEN WEEK!

We’ll be sharing a daily recipe all week using this addicting ingredient, and we’re starting off with a personal favorite of mine.

First, let’s just talk about the pollen. It’s easily my favorite part of the entire plant. That’s saying a lot, considering I was that weird kid that brought thin slices of fennel bulb to school with me in my younger years as part of my lunch. Fennel is a personal favorite of mine for salads and as parts of roasted veggies and stocks. The seeds are a fun option for sauces, homemade sausage, and spice rubs. But really, the pollen is the most magical part.

The pollen is easily harvested by shaking fennel flowers over your hand or a small bag in the high summer months, but the yield is quite small. I spent an hour doing this last summer and barely had half an ounce. Use it fresh or dry, both will make you a happy, happy eater. The dried version here has a really fantastic flavor and an even better aroma than the fresh version. Either way, what fennel pollen has to offer is really extraordinary. The aroma is both sweet and spicy, with its classic hint of anise, but also with a honey and citrus finish. The flavor instantly takes me to a place where it’s always summer. Those honey and citrus aromas are also present in the taste. Finally, it’s a flavor enhancer. I don’t care what anyone else says; fennel pollen intensifies the flavors of anything and elevates other sweet or savory components of your dish. Basically, it’s magical fairy dust.

Our most recent food discovery here at Caputo’s is the marriage of honey and fennel pollen. I’m taking advantage of this pairing twice this week, and for very good reason. The sweetness of the honey pairs incredibly well with the aroma and flavor from the pollen. Here, we’re using pan roasted carrots as the base for this combo.

Pan roasting carrots releases all the natural sugars from the carrots and makes them an easy choice as a side for roasted or braised meats and creamy polenta. I love bringing them to the brink of burning to get that really nice, caramelized flavor and texture on the exterior, which is made easier and more delicious with Clifford honey. These end up being sweet, decadent carrot candy. When finished with your magical fennel pollen fairy dust right after they come out of the pan, these carrots will steal the show.

Honey Glazed Carrots with Fennel Pollen
Serves 4 as a side

• 20-25 petite carrots or 10-16 medium carrots, peeled (either works great, but try to find all that are of a uniform size)
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1-2 large spoonfuls honey
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 teaspoon fennel pollen

Heat a large stainless steel skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add carrots in one even layer, and raise heat to just higher than medium. Turn carrots a few times over the course of about 15-20 minutes so all sides are browned and carrots are tender. Drizzle a spoonful of honey over the carrots, toss, and keep on the heat for another 1-2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and finish with the sprinkling of ¾ of the fennel pollen. Toss once more and transfer to a serving dish and finish with the remaining fennel pollen before serving.