It has taken a few days to regain my strength after the cat poo incident.

So a different tact has been taken this time, and I decided to work with a spice I have virtually no experience with.  Anise.  I actually don’t even know how to say it right to be honest.

Why no experience?  Cause (when raw) it smells and tastes like licorice, which is one of the world’s top five most horrid and inexcusable violations of the senses.  But like fennel, when cooked takes on a completely different flavor-  or so I had previously heard, since I usually steer clear of it.  Mature, I know.

Well what the hell do you do with a spice you don’t cook with.  Shit.  This is where I landed, and got stuck, two days ago.  And had to resort to crunching on Anise seed raw, and then toasting it and crunching on it again, and trying not to gag in the process.

Though I’ll admit just in toasting it the flavors changed remarkably and I was quite pleased with the end result.  And it opened up a methodology I’d not previously thought of-  to cook the spice by itself before adding it to something to see how it’s properties change.  And yes, I was quite pleased with myself for this little revelation.

I ended up with duck breast stuffed with baby swiss, seasoned with anise, salt, and pepper with a braised fennel and orange zest compote.  And it totally friggin worked!  I had too much cheese in this preliminary version and it overpowered the rest of the flavors, or so said my taste-tester poker boys, but with a few minor adjustments I think this might actually be a book-able recipe..

Well at least it’s not burned and doesn’t look like feces.