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| Salmon with Braised Fennel, Vanilla & Green Olives Serves 4 Braised fennel:  2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut in 6 pieces each 4 cloves garlic, chopped 3 large shallots, chopped 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 1 cup dry, crisp chardonnay 3 cups chicken stock 24 small organic green olives, pitted 2 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped 1 tsp fennel seeds ½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped but pod reserved Juice of ½ lemon 2 tbsp chopped parsley 12 grape tomatoes, halved Salmon: 4 salmon fillets, 140g each, skin removed 2 tbsp olive oil, for searing salmon Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, for garnish Braised fennel: Preheat the oven to 190 deg C. Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof sauté pan on medium heat. Add fennel, garlic, shallots, thyme and bay leaf and sauté for about 5 minutes until fragrant. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze the pan with wine and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and stir in olives and Roma tomatoes. Cover the pan with aluminium foil and braise in the oven for about 20 minutes until vegetables are just tender. Use a slotted spoon to transfer fennel and olives to a second oven-proof pan and set them aside. Add fennel seeds and vanilla bean, both seeds and pod, to the remaining liquid and cook it on medium-high heat until it has reduced by half, about 12 minutes. Discard the vanilla pod. Purée the braising mixture in a blender, then pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Reduce the oven temperature to 95 deg C. Add parsley and grape tomatoes to the fennel and olives. Pour the sauce over the fennel mixture, toss well to combine, and keep warm in the oven. Salmon: Heat a sauté pan over high heat. Season fish with salt and pepper, then add olive oil to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, add the salmon and sear for 2 minutes on each side. To serve: Place three pieces of fennel in each of four large, shallow bowls. Add a quarter of the sauce, then top with a fillet of salmon and finish with a drizzle of olive oil. From: Blue Water Café Seafood Cookbook. By Frank Pabst. Published by Douglas & McIntyre. 
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