| Fennel seeds are grown in many places. A highly | | | | be cooked in no time. I don't like the chicken to be dried |
| expensive fennel pollens or fennel seeds which have | | | | out. I highly recommend that you remove the breast |
| an aromatic flavor to it have relatively long cooking | | | | early to prevent this from happening. |
| times and can be classed as a slightly complicated | | | | -- Fennel Roasted Chicken -- |
| dish. | | | | ~ 1 whole (about 3-pound) chicken, cut up, or about 3 |
| By nature, fennel is an herb which form a bulb-like | | | | pounds drumsticks and thighs |
| structure. Primarily used in Mediterranean to add flavor | | | | ~ 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, or as needed |
| to fish dishes, they are also grown in much of the | | | | ~ 2 bulbs fennel, trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch thick |
| Asian sub-continent. The dialects in places where it is | | | | slices |
| grown has given it variety of names. | | | | ~ Chopped fresh parsley leaves for garnish |
| Compared to wild fennel seeds, cultivated fennel is | | | | ~ Lemon wedges |
| used in culinary purposes. | | | | ~ Salt and freshly ground black pepper |
| The cultivated fennel seeds are used for a variety of | | | | (1) Heat oven to 400F. Drizzle bottom of shallow |
| purposes. It is best to have it cooked with chicken for | | | | roasting pan or baking sheet with about half the olive |
| tenderness. | | | | oil and cover it with a layer of the fennel. |
| In this article I'm going to show you how to cook a | | | | (2) Overlap pieces if necessary but use whole pan. |
| chicken dish and add fennel to it. | | | | Drizzle remaining oil over fennel and sprinkle with salt |
| The result is going to be awesome. And the smell? | | | | and pepper. |
| Superb! Simply put, the combination of taste, aroma | | | | (3) Roast about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut up chicken |
| and looks of the dish will be... wow! | | | | if necessary and sprinkle the pieces with salt and |
| Obviously when preparing any dish, the ingredients | | | | pepper. |
| need to be good. Especially, when talking about a | | | | (4) Top fennel with the chicken parts, skin side up. |
| chicken dish being prepared with fennel, the basic | | | | Ideally, you'll have a layer of fennel pretty much |
| ingredients would of course be chicken and fennel and | | | | covered by a layer of chicken, but it's fine if some of |
| other "secret ingredients" that I have learned through | | | | the fennel roasts uncovered. |
| out the years . | | | | (5) Spoon some of the oil from bottom of pan over |
| With good chicken available in abundance in the | | | | chicken. Roast about 15 minutes, then baste chicken |
| market, I recommend the following two options: | | | | with pan drippings and rotate the pan. If necessary, |
| 1) Use all the drumsticks and thighs when you are | | | | adjust oven temperature so chicken browns but does |
| cooking the dish as these will brilliantly add flavor to | | | | not burn. |
| fennel. Cooking time of the dish can be reduced to a | | | | The chicken will be done in about 30 minutes. Serve |
| good 10 minutes if you remove the drumstick from high | | | | each piece with some fennel and a little of the pan |
| at the joint. | | | | juices spooned over, garnished with parsley and a |
| 2) Use the sharpest knife that you have to cut the | | | | lemon wedge. |
| whole portion of the chicken. If you do this, ensure that | | | | Dinner is ready! Bring everyone and enjoy. |
| you cut the drumsticks and thighs as well so that it will | | | | |