Four Ingredients, One Assignment!

Spicy Citrus Chicken with Fennel and Crushed Olive Pilaf

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This is a very fun newsletter to write. As I mentioned last week, my dear friend

Alexis deBoschnek

and I were texting about recipe ideas, we often have similar items in the fridge and a similar palate, which makes it all the more fun. Our conversations usually start with one of us saying something like…

“Hey! I’m working on a new dip idea with caramelized onions and miso” and then the other will say, “Yesss! that sounds amazing, what if you added a bit of sesame oil and soy at the end?” And then in unison we’ll say “And, top it with toasted sesame seeds and scallions?!” It’s a lot of fun, coupled with lots of camaraderie.

On this particular exchange, we were eerily on the same page and both had plans to cook with chicken, citrus, olives and fennel on the same night! Before we went any further, we decided that it would be the most fun for you, our dear readers, to have us agree on these four ingredients and see how we developed two separate recipes without telling each other what they were and then share them with you. We enjoy cooking within constraints, which might sound counterintuitive, but in fact can be more enjoyable a lot of the time. Working with what you have can be a very creative and fulfilling outlet.

Because we were so pleased with ourselves and this format, we decided to share them with all of you, our wonderful subscribers, and not put either of them behind a paywall, because honestly - we all need a little bit of something extra good right now. So you get TWO NEW RECIPES THIS WEEK!

I chose to spatchcock my chicken and marinate it in a mixture of spicy harissa, fresh orange juice and zest and a bit of garlic. The chicken goes in to the oven solo for the first part of cooking. While the chicken roasts, you start working on your pilaf, which includes onion, fennel, bahārāt and crushed olives. I happened to have bahārāt leftover from making Hala’s Spinach Stew that

Clare de Boer

published a few weeks ago (very good by the way), but if you don’t have any on hand, you can leave it out or substitute ground cumin and cinnamon. The chicken is then transferred on top of the pilaf and everything finishes cooking together in the oven and it all takes under an hour. It is so good! I served the chicken with a radicchio and shaved fennel salad alongside.

Alexis went in another, and I know, equally delicious, different direction entirely. In fact, I don’t even know what she did other than her sharing this beautiful image and calling it Spiced Chicken with Olive and Citrus Salsa. So you should head over to her newsletter Side Dish to find out! I will be right behind you.

We really hope you enjoy this very collaborative and fun lens to share recipes with you. And, do let us know if you’d like us to do it again - we’d be happy to. Also, let us know which chicken you make! Or do yourselves a favor and make both.

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Spicy Citrus Chicken with Fennel and Crushed Olive Pilaf

Colu Henry

Time 45 minutes

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

For the chicken:

1 3 ½ to 4 pound chicken - spatchocked (backbone removed)

Kosher salt and black pepper

3 tablespoons harissa paste

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice, from one orange

1 teaspoon orange zest, from one orange

1 garlic clove grated

Olive oil as needed

For the pilaf:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

1 small bulb fennel, finely chopped

1 ½ cups jasmine rice

2 ½ cups chicken stock

½ cup Castelvetrano olives, crushed with pits removed and discarded

1 teaspoon bahārāt (optional) - or ½ teaspoon each ground cumin and cinnamon

Roughly chopped herbs for serving such as dill and Italian parsley

METHOD

Heat the oven to 425 °F.

On a large sheet pan (or other oven safe pan), season the chicken well with salt and pepper. I use 1 teaspoon per pound using Diamond Crystal, but if you’re using Morton’s reduce by half.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the harissa paste, orange juice, zest and garlic with a pinch of salt.

With a brush or your hands, rub the mixture all over the chicken, making sure the marinade gets into all the nooks and crannies. Place in the oven and roast for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a stock pot, bring the stock to a simmer.

In a large, deep-sided oven safe pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and the fennel with a good pinch of salt and cook until translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the bahārāt (if using) and toast for just shy of a minute or so to let it bloom. Add in the rice and stir to coat in the spiced oil, toast 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the stock to the rice, along with the olives, and bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute before bringing it back down to a simmer.

Remove the chicken from the oven and carefully place on top of the rice and pour any drippings that have accumulated over top. If the chicken looks dry, drizzle it with a bit of oil.

Transfer the chicken and rice back to the oven and cook for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 °F and the rice is cooked through.

Allow the chicken to rest for 10 minutes or so. Scatter with herbs, fluff the rice, carve, serve.

Spicy Citrus Chicken With Fennel And Crushed Olive Pilaf (1)

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With love,

Colu & Alexis x