Baked Chicken With Fennel Butter Food

ROAST CHICKEN WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 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. Overlap pieces if necessary but use whole pan. Drizzle remaining oil over fennel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cut up chicken if necessary and sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper.
• Top fennel with the chicken parts, skin side up. Ideally, you'll have a layer of fennel pretty much covered by a layer of chicken, but it's fine if some of the fennel roasts uncovered. Spoon some of the oil from bottom of pan over chicken. If there is not enough, drizzle additional olive oil over the chicken. Roast about 15 minutes, then baste chicken with pan drippings and rotate the pan. If necessary, adjust oven temperature so chicken browns but does not burn.
• 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 parsley and a lemon wedge.

ONE-SKILLET CHICKEN WITH BUTTERY ORZO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Rain salt and then some pepper all over chicken. Heat 2 Tbsp. butter in a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Nestle chicken, skin side down, in skillet in a single layer with no gaps (if you can't quite fit them all, wait until chicken shrinks slightly, then puzzle in the remaining pieces). Cook until meat is opaque around the edges and skin is deep golden brown, 6-8 minutes. Turn chicken skin side up and transfer skillet to oven; bake, uncovered, until chicken is cooked through, 10-15 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate.
• Set same skillet over medium; combine fennel bulb and leek in skillet and sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until leek is looking golden around the edges, about 5 minutes. Add orzo and cook until pasta is darkened (it will take on a brown hue) to a nice nutty brown in spots and toasty smelling, about 3 minutes. Pour in wine and cook, stirring, until liquid is evaporated, about 1 minute. Add broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and letting broth absorb before adding more, until orzo is tender and broth is mostly absorbed but pan is not dry, 10-15 minutes.
• Remove skillet from heat, Taste and add more salt and pepper to your liking; mix in lemon juice and remaining 1 Tbsp. butter, then chopped fennel fronds. Pile chicken on top and finish with lemon zest.

GRILLED OYSTERS WITH FENNEL BUTTER

Steps:

• Prepare and light a grill or preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
• In a small bowl, blend together the butter, ground fennel seeds, shallots, fennel bulb, fennel greens, pepper and salt.
• Arrange the oysters on the grill or oven rack, cover and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until they start hissing and begin to open.
• Using an oyster knife, pry each oyster open at the hinge, loosen the oyster and discard the flat shell. Top each oyster with 1/2 teaspoon of the fennel butter. Return to grill and cook until butter is melted and hot.

CHICKEN FENNEL BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
• Cut the fennel into thick slices. Shingle them onto the center of the baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.
• Zest 2 of the lemons and set aside, then juice these lemons into a medium bowl. Whisk the olive oil into the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Halve the remaining 3 lemons and add them to the bowl along with the potatoes and carrots. Toss to coat. Spread the vegetables and lemon halves around the outside of the baking sheet. Put the chicken thighs in the same bowl along with the reserved lemon zest and more salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Put the chicken on top of the fennel skin-side up, leaving a little space between pieces.
• Bake, stirring the potatoes and carrots halfway through, until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Serve the chicken with the vegetables and roasted lemon halves.

BAKED FENNEL WITH SAFFRON

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Place fennel, onion and garlic into an oiled baking dish using the 2 tablespoons oil.
• Combine saffron, chicken broth and white wine and pour over fennel season with salt and pepper. Dot with butter.
• Cover and bake for 25 - 30 minutes. If desired, uncover the baking dish toward the end of the cooking time, to allow any excess liquid to evaporate.
• Garnish with the fennel fronds (feathery greens from the fennel).

FENNEL-DUSTED CHICKEN WITH BROWN BUTTER AND CAPERS

Steps:

• Stir together fennel seeds, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Pat chicken dry, then sprinkle both sides with fennel mixture.
• Heat 2 tablespoons butter with oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook 2 cutlets, turning once, until just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes total. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely. Add remaining 2 cutlets to skillet and cook, then transfer to plate. (Butter will brown as chicken cooks.)
• Add capers and orange juice to skillet along with any meat juices from plate and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits. Remove from heat and swirl in remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Pour over chicken.

VANILLA ROAST CHICKEN WITH FENNEL

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place the reserved fennel ribs in the cavity of the chicken, and truss if desired. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, and place in roasting pan.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in honey, zest, juices and extract. Brush the chicken all over with vanilla mixture, place the chicken on its side and roast 15 minutes. Turn chicken on its other side, baste with pan drippings and roast 15 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat, and saute the garlic until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the fennel, and saute over medium heat until softened and golden, about 15 minutes. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper.
• Remove chicken from the oven, place breast side up and reduce the oven temperature to 375 degrees. Spoon the fennel around the chicken, and pour wine over the fennel. Return chicken to the oven, and roast, basting with pan drippings every 10 minutes, until the juices run clear when the chicken is pricked in the thickest part of the thigh, about 35 to 45 minutes. If chicken browns too quickly during roasting, cover loosely with aluminum foil.
• To serve, remove the fennel from the pan with a slotted spoon, and divide among 4 plates. Carve the chicken, and divide the meat among the plates. Season to taste, and serve immediately.

CHICKEN WITH FENNEL STUFFING

Steps:

• In a large skillet, saute fennel and onion in 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Place in a large bowl. Stir in the stuffing cubes, broth, thyme, sage, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Just before baking, loosely stuff chicken with 3 cups stuffing. Place remaining stuffing in a greased 1-qt. baking dish; refrigerate until ready to bake. , Place chicken breast side up on a rack in a roasting pan. Melt remaining butter; brush over chicken. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 2-3/4 to 3-1/4 hours or until a thermometer reads 165° when inserted in center of stuffing and thigh reaches at least 170°. , Bake additional stuffing, covered, for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 15-20 minutes longer or until lightly browned. Cover chicken and let stand for 10 minutes before removing stuffing and carving.

WINE-BAKED HALIBUT STEAKS WITH MUSTARD-FENNEL BUTTER

Steps:

• Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 400°.
• Toast fennel seeds in heavy small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.
• Remove from skillet; cool.
• Finely chop fennel seeds.
• Combine butter, parsley, mustard and fennel seeds in small bowl.
• Mash with rubber spatula until smooth and well blended.
• Season fennel butter to taste with salt and pepper.
• Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper.
• Place fish in 8x8-inch glass baking dish.
• Pour wine over.
• Bake opaque in center, basting occasionally with wine and juices in dish for about 15 minutes.
• Spread all of fennel butter over fish.