For this weeknight dinner I made the above-mentioned Mark Bittman recipe for roasted chicken with fennel, which is basically everyone’s favorite roast chicken that is almost broiled at a really high temperature on top of sliced fennel. As a result, the fennel perfumes the chicken while being cooked in the juices from the roast at the same time. And god, the combination makes your kitchen smell good!
The important part of this recipe, as with any roasting bird is basting, constantly and carefully basting.
You’ll need:
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
- 2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 whole (about 3-pound) chicken, cut up, or about 3 pounds drumsticks and thighs (I made a bit less, around four drumsticks)
- Lemon wedges
1. Preheat oven to 450 F (232 C) degrees. Drizzle bottom of shallow roasting pan or baking sheet with about half the olive oil and cover it with a layer of the fennel. Drizzle remaining oil over fennel and season with salt and pepper.
Roast about 10 minutes. Prepare the chicken but cutting it up, if necessary, and seasoning in the meantime.
2. Top fennel with the chicken, skin side up. Cover as much of the fennel with chicken as possible. Spoon some of the oil from bottom of pan over chicken. Roast about 15 minutes, then baste chicken with pan drippings and rotate the pan. Watch it carefully and adjust oven temperature so chicken browns but does not burn (and so that the fennel doesn’t burn either) and be careful when opening oven and basting, it will be hot in there!
3. The chicken will be done in about 30 minutes. Serve each piece with some fennel and a little of the pan juices spooned over, garnished with a lemon wedge, squeezed over the fennel.
I also made a little side onion and tomato salad, dressed with some of this lovely balsamic syrup to which I happen to be addicted.
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