Lonny's Oyster Stew Recipe – Sunset Magazine

Ingredients

• 1/4 pound pancetta or bacon
• 2 leeks (3/4 in. thick), white parts only
• 2 heads (3 in. wide) fennel
• 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seed
• 6 cups half-and-half (light cream) or 2% milk
• 3 jars (10 oz. each) shucked oysters and their liquor (4 cups total)
• 3/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon Pernod, Sambuca, or other anise-flavor liqueur (not sweet)
• Fresh-ground black pepper
• Salt
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter or margarine