When we visited Hugh Griffin's garden in Clifden, where he produces the vegetables for High Moors restaurant, as featured on this page a few weeks back, he proudly showed us a healthy crop of beautiful, feathery Florence fennel. Back at the restaurant, however, Eileen Griffin said: "What am I going to do with all that fennel?" A trip to d'Arcy's restaurant, in Kenmare, may well have provided an answer to her problem. Patrick Gath and James Mulchrone have taken over the restaurant, and have been wowing locals and visitors for the past few months, for the combination of Patrick's assured service and James's delicious cooking is hard to resist.
Mulchrone's cooking on the one hand weaves complex flavours successfully together, and on the other does the simplest things to perfection. My wife had a main course of grilled peppered fillet of beef with crispy fried onions and it was as simple and successful a dish as I have ever seen cooked in a restaurant. There was nothing more than the grilled beef, some onion rings and a light, creamy sauce made from the pan juices, and nothing else was needed.
The other knockout dish, which showed the more complicated side of his art, was a stupendous main course of panfried brill with a fennel brandade and a basil cream. Here, the fish and the brandade conjoined in a marriage made in heaven, but I think there are many other things the fennel brandade could be served with. Its pointed flavour notes of aniseed, accentuated by the little shot of Pernod, would allow it to partner lamb just as well as it did the brill - especially if the lamb was herby mountain lamb (see Megabites).
So, for gardeners throughout the country with fine fennel ready to be dug, here is James Mulchrone's demon recipe. If you simply want to eat it without having to grow it and cook it, then d'Arcy's will remain open until Christmas, and is at Main Street, Kenmare, Co Kerry, tel: 064 41589.
James Mulchrone's Fennel Brandade
1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 large bulbs of fennel
1 bay leaf
2 oz/50g butter
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 large peeled potatoes
4 fl oz/100ml cream
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon Pernod
Trim and slice the fennel finely, slice onion. Sweat onion, fennel and garlic with bay leaf in the butter and olive oil over a low heat, covered, until tender. Add chopped potatoes and cream, cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until potatoes are cooked and excess liquid has been evaporated. Process until smooth, season with salt, white pepper, lemon juice and Pernod.