A Seafood Extravaganza with Oranges and Ouzo (p. 385) and Provencal Marinated Fennel (p. 320)

How can you not make a recipe that refers to itself as a seafood extravaganza? It's begging to be cooked. And cook it I did.

The base of the recipe is sliced red onions, garlic, and fennel along with tomato, all cooked in olive oil down into a thick sauce.

Fresh squeezed orange juice, orange zest, and Greek ouzo give the sauce a punch of flavor.

White fish and peeled shrimp cook directly in the sauce. Once thoroughly cooked, stir in pitted green olives, chopped fennel greens, and salt and pepper and serve immediately.

This was quite lovely. The white fish sort of fell apart and made it pretty soup-like, but the flavors were great, and I liked the different textures in the dish. The green olives added a lot of salt, though, so careful on how much extra you add.

With my extravaganza, I cooked up some Provencal Marinated Fennel, which is quick and easy and surprisingly delicious. Trim up your fennel bulbs and cut them into slices. Cook these in a skillet with olive oil, salt and pepper, sliced celery, and crushed garlic. Add in bay leaves and pine nuts and simmer everything together for about 15 minutes.

Toss in some currants, keep over the heat a bit longer, and then serve.

We were both really surprised by how much we liked this. The currant and pine nut topping had a lot of flavor and really complemented the softened fennel.

fennel -- $4.47

shrimp -- $4.63

fish -- $14.42

red onion -- $1.97 (half left)

orange -- $.62 (half left)

tomato -- $1.20 (half left)

olives -- $3.50

Total Cost of A Seafood Extravaganza with Oranges and Ouzo -- $30.81

($7.70 per serving)

fennel --$4.47

Total Cost of Provencal Marinated Fennel: $4.47

($2.24 per serving)