Chicken Stew With Fennel And Saffron Food

SABRINA GHAYOUR'S SAFFRON CHICKEN AND FENNEL STEW RECIPE

Steps:

• Set a large saucepan over a medium heat and add a couple of good glugs (about 4 tablespoons) of olive oil to the pan. Fry the onions until they are translucent and just begin to take on a golden-brown colour around the edges.
• Add the chicken thighs and coat them in the onion mixture to seal the flavour into the meat. Cook until you get just a little colour onto the thighs.
• Grind the saffron with a pestle and mortar and add it to the chicken, stirring well to ensure the chicken thighs are evenly coated in onion and saffron. Lastly, add the cumin, cinnamon, orange juice and a generous amount of sea salt and black pepper and give everything a final stir.
• Pour over just enough boiling water to cover the chicken then add the fennel quarters and honey. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the temperature to low and simmer for 1 hour, stirring after 30 minutes or so to prevent sticking.
• After the hour has passed, add the barberries and stir gently, then cover and cook for another hour. The slower and longer you cook this dish, the richer and better it will taste.
• After the full 2 hours of cooking, check the chicken and fennel to ensure they are still intact and give the ingredients another careful stir. Re-cover and cook for a further 20 minutes, then serve with basmati rice.

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.