Category: fennel

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chicken cumin fennel food tomato

whole barbecue chicken

whole barbecue chicken

I love being invited to barbecues, especially for the social aspect. But I do experience a twinge of disappointment when it’s just sausages and burgers from Iceland on offer. All food does taste better outside it’s true, but it’s nice to have something a bit different. How about a whole lamb? How about a whole chicken?

I’ve used Jamie Oliver’s recipe for barbecue sauce from Jamie at Home here, and it’s an absolute cracker. The kicker is the orange juice, it really makes it. Do give it a whirl, it’s amazing. I decided to brine the chicken as I’m bit obssessed with it lately, but you can skip this if you want. You get the tenderest meat from it though.

Whole barbecued chicken (serves 8):

2kg chicken, the best you can afford

1 heaped tablespoon cumin seeds

1 heaped tablespoon fennel seeds

5 cloves

A bunch of thyme, leaves picked

A bunch of rosemary, leaves picked (keep a sprig back for later)

Zest and juice of 1 orange

1 bulb of garlic, broken into cloves and peeled

4 heaped teaspoons paprika

6 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

150ml tomato ketchup

8 tablespoons olive oil

10 bay leaves

  • Prepare an 8% brine solution. Dunk the chicken in it and soak for at least 6 hours.
  • After this time, remove the chicken from the water and spatchcock it. To do this, cut down the backbone with kitchen scissors and wipe the innards down. Place it right way up and apply a little pressure to the breast, cracking it slightly. It should open like a book. Spear it in place with two skewers crossing over. The spatchcocking will cook it quicker and the skewers keep its shape while it cooks. If you have time dry the chicken out uncovered in the fridge overnight.
  • Preheat the oven to 180°C. To make the marinade grind together all the spices with some salt and pepper. Chop the herbs and orange finely and mix that in. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Smother the chicken all over with the marinade and bung on a baking tray in the oven. After it’s been in the oven for 30 minutes, light the barbecue.
  • Cook the chicken for an hour or until the internal temperature reaches 74°C. (For best results, use a meat thermometer).
  • Transfer the whole chicken to the barbecue and sear it well one side. As it cooks use a rosemary sprig to baste it with leftover sauce from your tray. Flip it over and when done, leave to rest on a plate. While it rests, pop the baking tray on the barbecue and let the heat sizzle the leftover marinade and get stickier. Pour this into a jug and serve with the chicken. I recommend plonking on the table and letting everyone have at it like vultures!
Categories
bread fennel food tomato

chickpea and bread soup

Another corker from Ottolenghi’s Plenty. In many ways it reminds me of Jamie’s minestrone and is no worse for that. It’s full-flavoured and packed with vegetables, the chickpeas and bread giving it real sustenance beyond starter-course fare. I also toasted a few extra pieces of bread to float as croutons on top, because I can never get enough bread. (Incidentally, Morrisons supermarket do an amazing sourdough loaf – amazing).

I won’t go into ingredients or technique here; the whole thing is listed on the Guardian’s website.

Categories
fennel food pork red cabbage swede

pork belly with salted red cabbage and roasted swede

Sometimes, I just crave pork belly. The gelatinous texture and tender meat send me giddy with excitement. But the really interesting part of this recipe is the red cabbage. I’ve always stewed red cabbage for ever, but I saw the avuncular Nigel Howarth on Saturday Kitchen this week and he prepared it by salting and then quick frying. It’s a revelation, with a taste verging on sauerkraut but with that sweetness of red cabbage. I love it!

(I made some changes to Nigel Howarth’s red cabbage recipe according to my store cupboard and my tastes; his original recipe can be found here)

Pork belly with salted red cabbage and roasted swede:

For the pork:

500g pork belly

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 celery stalk

1 onion, halved

3 garlic cloves

100ml cider

100ml chicken stock

For the cabbage:

½ head red cabbage, finely sliced

15g coarse sea salt

100ml sesame oil

50g icing sugar

50ml port

50ml red wine vinegar

Pinch cayenne pepper

For the swede:

½ swede, diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons port

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Pinch of thyme leaves

  1. Put the cabbage and salt in a bowl, stir well and leave for 4 hours. Rinse the excess salt before using.
  2. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
  3. Place the root veg in a baking tray. Rub the pork all over with sea salt and fennel seeds. Pour the liquids in the pan and layer the pork on top of the veg. Cover with foil and roast for around 2 hours or until meltingly tender. Remove from the oven and leave to rest under the foil
  4. Turn the oven up to 200°C. Toss the swede in all the other ingredients with some salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes until tender.
  5. Heat the sesame oil in a pan and add the cabbage with the cayenne. Fry for a couple of minutes until softened. Push the cabbage to one side and add the icing sugar. Once you see it melt add the vinegar and port and continue to stir fry until tender.
  6. Pop the pork under a hot grill until the skin goes crisp.
Categories
chorizo fennel food pork red onion

pork, chorizo and fennel stir fry

Another superfast delight from the pages of Olive magazine. This was the first time I’d worked with a fennel bulb, having enjoyed the potent seeds for a long time. But the satisfying almost lemony crunch of the fennel means I’ll be coming back for more.

Pork, chorizo and fennel stir-fry:

2 pork escalopes, cut into bitey pieces

100g chorizo, diced

1 fennel bulb, finely sliced

1 red onion, finely sliced

Handful of green beans, halved

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

200ml vegetable stock

100ml white wine

Dried onion to serve

  1. Fry chorizo in a hot pan until darkening at the edges and releasing its oil. Remove from the pan.
  2. Fry the pork with the zest in the same pan until white all over, seasoning as you go. Add a splash of wine, lemon juice, the fennel and onion and fry until the latter are tender.
  3. Add green beans, stock and chorizo and cook for a few minutes until the beans are done to your liking.
  4. Serve with crispy onion on top.
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