King Prawns with Pernod, Tarragon and Feta

This was a collaborative effort with L and in fact she did most of the work. This recipe has a lot of ingredients, most of which I didn't have so we each grabbed a few things from various shops and got down to work.

Step one was to shell the prawns and get them into a mixture of oil, garlic, thyme and grated lemon zest to marinate for an hour. Overnight would have been better. Tedious, especially as it required leaving heads and tails on. Thyme and lemon courtesy of our gardens. 

The feta also had to be chopped up and set to luxuriate in a bath of oil, oregano and chili flakes. 

Baby fennel was unavailable (is it ever?) so regular fennel had to be sliced,  preparatory to being sautéed 

All ingredients prepped and marinated, it was time for the big cook up. Firstly, sauté the prawns till translucent, then remove and add the fennel to the pan. Smelling good. The fennel had to be fried until it reached "a good bit of colour". Add the veggie stock and reduce, then the Pernod. Smelling even better. Return prawns to the pan and add butter and tarragon, mix till glossy. Serve topped with the feta. 

The only major variation was using dried tarragon instead of fresh so that would have made it even better. The plating up left a lot to be desired but it was delicious, even those who don't usually like fennel enjoyed it.