Exclusive Receipe - Zander and fennel wrapped in parchment

Our second exclusive seasonal recipe courtesy of Sarah Wiener is perfect for balmy summer evenings! Combining the popular and useful garden staple—the elderflower—and a particular herb and vegetable, which we’ve been growing as part of our biological crop management on more than 80ha in our nursery. We‘re talking about fennel, of course—whose flower is an absolute insect magnet!

Follow Sarah’s instructions below to learn how to use these two ingredients to make a light and tasty summer dish:

 

 

 

Zander and Fennel wrapped in Parchment

2 fennel tubers (both stalks and bulbs)

Juice of one lemon, preferably organic

A pinch of cracked black pepper

4 sprigs of thyme

A handful of fennel greens

4 100g pieces of zander fillet, skinned and deboned

4 flakes of organic sour cream butter

4 sheets of baking paper

Butcher’s twine

 

1.       Rinse the fennel, before chopping and setting aside the fennel greenery. Plane the fennel tubers into very fine slices.

2.       Add lemon juice, salt and pepper. Knead the fennel until it becomes soft and releases a small amount of water.

3.       Place half of the fennel in the middle of the baking paper. Season the fish fillets with a pinch of salt and pepper and place on top of the fennel together, along with a sprig of thyme.

4.       Spread the rest of the fennel on the fish, sprinkle with the fennel water and put a flake of butter on top. Beat the parchment over the fish, twist together and shape into a small parcel. Secure the sides with butcher’s twine so that the parcel doesn‘t open again.

5.       Place the parcels into an oven preheated to 180°C for about 12-15 minutes. Serve fresh Each guest should open his or her own package to enjoy the beautiful smell. If you like, you can sprinkle some chopped fennel green over it for decoration, otherwise serve alongside a little green salad and good sourdough bread.

 

 

 

Elderflower spritzer

Ingredients:

Umbels (cream-coloured heads) of 20-25 elderflowers

2 organic lemons

1 organic orange

1kg sugar

1 litre filtered water

25g citric or tartaric acid (you can find this in your local pharmacy)

Medium-sized piece of muslin or cheesecloth

 

1. Don‘t rinse the elderflowers – instead, only shake them out lightly. This way, as much pollen as possible is preserved, retaining the natural flavours. Cut off the thick stems with scissors and remove insects from the flowers.
2. Wash the lemons and orange with warm water and cut into slices. Put the elderflowers in a large bowl along with the sugar, lemon and orange slices, citric/tartaric acid, and 1 litre of water.
3. Cover and leave to stand in a cool place for 2 days, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
4. Filter the contents through a cheesecloth or medium-sized piece of muslin and pour into sterilised bottles. Store in a dark and cool place.
5. Mix with cooled soda at a ratio of approximately one part syrup to eight parts soda, and enjoy with ice and lemon during the early days of summer.

Extra tip

The syrup has a good shelf life, so there‘s no need to worry about it going off too quickly. However, if you already know that you‘ll be using it soon, I recommend replacing the citric acid with lemon juice, and the sugar with honey. This way, you’ll keep more of the valuable nutrients, but also reduce its best before date, so to speak – so only do this if you know it’ll be consumed as soon as it’s ready.

 

Wishing you a tasty meal and fun while cooking,

 

 

Love for our products, sustainable production and high quality standards—this is what motivates our gardener and cook Sarah Wiener. As such, it was only a matter of time before her guest speech—and culinary support at our anniversary celebration last year—turned into something more.

Exclusively for Lorberg, the TV chef, author, and founder of the foundation has put together four recipes for 2019, which can be conjured up with ingredients from your own garden with a little skill. (And, if you’re finding one or two fruits tricky to get hold of, you know where to find us!)