Bring on the fennel

Mark Bittman writes a column for the New York Times Dining and Wine section called The Minimalist. Additionally, he writes a Times blog called Bitten that's always worth a look.

Mark Bittman is one of my food heroes. He likes good food, but backs away from the unnecessary hoopla that often surrounds it. Great ingredients, simply prepared; who could ask for anything more?

This week, he took on one of my favorite vegetables, fennel. I run it through a mandoline, throw it in a bowl with some cut up oranges and a handful of cashews and tuck into a bowl of heaven. Really. It tastes like Amalfi.

This week, Bittman combined fennel with one of my other favorite vegetables, celery. Fennel and celery have strangely similar textures and it never occurred to me to combine them. This is a perfect counterpoint to a season of holiday overindulgence.

2 medium fennel bulbs, trimmed, some fronds reserved
3 celery ribs, trimmed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, more to taste
Salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, more to taste
Freshly shaved Parmesan cheese.

1. Cut fennel bulbs in quarters lengthwise, discarding outer layer if it is exceedingly tough. Use a mandoline to slice quarters thinly; slice celery equally thin.
2. Put sliced fennel and celery into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and toss gently to combine. Top with lots of freshly shaved Parmesan and chopped fennel fronds if you like.

Happy Eat Too Much And Take A Nap On The Sofa Day

Be grateful. What a cool thing, a whole day set aside specifically for thinking about how good life is rather than how rotten things can be. For all the loose talk about Christmas spirit that goes around at this time of year, I'll take Thanksgiving Day spirit any time. Now I think I'll go bake some pies.

Psst. Need a quickie appetizer recipe for tomorrow?

Here's another great and clever recipe from my pals at the New York Times.

Parsley Salad
2 ounces (about 1/2 cup) soft, fleshy oil-cured black olives, pitted and halved
2 ounces (about 1 cup) flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) red onion, coarsely chopped
1 ounce (about 3 tablespoons) capers, rinsed of salt or brine
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
10 large anchovy fillets, chopped, or additional 1/4 cup black olives
Freshly grated zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Lemon juice, to taste
Salt, to taste
Thin slivers of Parmesan cheese
Buttery crackers, small biscuits or toasted slices of baguette brushed with olive oil, for serving.

Just before serving, combine olives, parsley, onion, capers, garlic, anchovies, if using, and lemon zest in a bowl, and toss well to combine. Add olive oil and black pepper, and mix well. Add lemon juice and salt to taste (ingredients are very salty, so you may need only a small amount). Spoon onto a serving plate, scatter with Parmesan, and serve with crackers, biscuits or toast.

Yield: 10 to 12 servings; can be doubled.

New, Italian bath design

Excuse me while I pretend that I'm European and make a bunch of sweeping generalizations about national character. 

Nobody does bath design like an Italian company. It would be interesting to figure out where the Italian fascination with running water comes from. Is it some residual, Roman need for clean water or is it the fact that their tap water tastes so good? Whatever's underneath it doesn't matter because what's visible is so stunning.

These are some new bathroom designs from the Idea Group. The Idea Group is in Treviso, in the Veneto Region of northern Italy. Treviso is also the headquarters of DeLonghi appliances. 

Disegnato in Italia --designed in Italy, means a lot to Italians and Northern Italians in particular. Again, to make some more sweeping generalizations, there's a celebration of the every day in Italian culture. Details matter in Italy, and there seems to be some kind of an Italian genetic predisposition to make everything as beautifully functional as possible. It doesn't matter if it's an Alessi salt shaker or a pair of Prada shoes, a lot of thought goes into otherwise mundane objects.

Anyhow this is about Italian bathrooms. I get Idea's e-newsletter and here's some of the highlights from their current collection. I never get to do work like this but if I were given carte blanche to do whatever I wanted with a bathroom, it would end up looking something like these gorgeous photos.

Ahhh, pared down and clean --everything a bathroom should be, in Italy or anywhere else.

More from Christophe Niemann

Christophe Niemann, whose fantastic tile mosaics I featured earlier, is also an author of children's books. His latest is a children's book, The Pet Dragon is available on Amazon. Check it out below.

The rest of Christophe's work is available on Amazon as well. He's as clever an author as he is a tile designer. Got kids? Christmas is coming you know...