How do you prepare fresh fennel for cooking? How do you prepare fresh fennel for cooking? My isntructions just say to "roughly chop", but don't say what parts of the plant to use.
Sometimes the outer leaves are a bit leathery (especially if the quality isn’t too god). When that’s the case I remove them first.

Next, I remove the green stalks – but Jefromi is right, the tiny leaves are delicious.

The kernel in the middle near the base of the fennel bulb is very hard. I usually cut it out by halving the bulb along its length and making two incisions with a sharp knife on either side of the kernel.

I chop the rest of the bulb so that it yields thin concentric slices.