Roasted Chicken with Clementines | Jerusalem

How much more intense flavor can you pile into one dish? This is the question I ask when I make the roasted chicken with clementine and arak from Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem. Check out the ingredient list; you can clearly see the building blocks of nothing but flavors.

Instead of arak, I use Pernod, aka Pernod Anise. It is a French anise-flavored liqueur with subtle notes of fennel, coriander and mint. It’s commonly used in making chicken fricassee or as a liquid when cooking mussels. Pernod is just the start in the process of fomenting a marinating base.

Beside the strong licorice flavor in the Pernod, the other marinade ingredients include: olive oil, freshly squeezed orange juice and lemon juice, whole-grain mustard, brown sugar. The marinade is a complex play of the key flavor element of sweet and sour. Then there are the herbaceous and fruity goodness of fennel bulbs and unpeeled slices of clementine. At this point, chicken may be relegated to play second fiddle to all the strong-flavored players.

For the chicken to compete well in the ensemble, you need to serve up high heat to roast the chicken pieces. Everything goes into the oven at 425°F until the chicken is colored and cooked through. The dish looks and tastes amazing out of the oven. Next time, I may even roast them to a darker and deeper brown. This is the ultimate delightful and comforting food that I’d revisit over and over again.

Print Recipe

Roasted Chicken with Clementines & Arak

Ingredients

• 100ml arak, ouzo or Pernod
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp grain mustard
• 3 tbsp light brown sugar
• 2 medium fennel bulbs (500g in total)
• 1 large organic or free-range chicken, about1.3kg, divided into 8 pieces, or the same weight in chicken thighs with the skin and on the bone
• 4 clementines, unpeeled (400g in total), sliced horizontally into 0.5cm slices
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves
• 2½ tsp fennel seeds, slightly crushed
• salt and black pepper
• chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Instructions

1

Put the first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl and add 2½ teaspoons of salt and 1½ teaspoons of black pepper. Whisk well and set aside.

2

MARINATE: Trim the fennel and cut each bulb in half lengthways. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Add the fennel to the liquids, along with the chicken pieces, clementine slices, thyme and fennel seeds. Stir well with your hands then leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (skipping the marinating stage is also fine, if you are pressed for time).

3

ROAST THE CHICKEN: Preheat the oven to 220°C /425°F /gas mark 7. Transfer the chicken and its marinade to a baking tray large enough to accommodate everything comfortably in a single layer (roughly a 30cm x 37cm tray); the chicken skin should be facing up. Once the oven is hot enough, put the tray in the oven and roast for 35-45 minutes, until the chicken is coloured and cooked through. Remove from the oven.

4

SERVE: Lift the chicken, fennel and clementines from the tray and arrange on a serving plate; cover and keep warm. Pour the cooking liquids into a small saucepan, place on a medium-high heat, bring to the boil then simmer until the sauce is reduced by a third, so you are left with about 80ml. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken, garnish with some chopped parsley and serve.

Notes

https://ottolenghi.co.uk/recipes/roasted-chicken-with-clementines-arak