Baked Fennel with Garlic Butter and Vermouth, with Risotto

The baked fennel recipe is courtesy of Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef Takes Off cookbook

Baked Fennel with Garlic Butter and Vermouth, serves 4:
3 large heads of fennel
1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
3 large pats of butter
2 wineglasses of dry vermouth (white wine also works)
salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.  Remove any discolored parts of the fennel, then cut the tops off and slice finely, reserving the feathery leaves.  (Slice each fennel from the top to the root, into about four pieces)
2. Throw all the ingredients except the reserved leaves into a baking dish.  Rip off a piece of wax paper, run it under cold water and scrunch it up to make it soft.  Then place it snugly over and around the fennel, not the baking dish.  This bakes and steams the fennel at the same time  - yum!  Cook in the preheated oven for 20mins, or until tender.  Scatter with the fennel leaves before serving.

**Note: I'm SURE this recipe would be a major hit ... however, midway through the cooking process, our power went out for almost an hour.  The fennel was not as tender as I imagined it would taste.

Risotto made from the Mediterranean boxed variety.