Fresh Herbed Roasted Chicken

                      I read a lot of items from the food genre, which is probably not a recognized genre, but to me it encompasses everything I enjoy reading: culinary magazines, cookbooks, reviews, recipes, food blogs, etc…In doing this the other afternoon, I came across a picture of a roasted chicken topped with a garden pesto. The picture was absolutely gorgeous; I would even frame it if Matt wouldn’t mind. But he would and I totally understand why. Well, the recipe was sort of intense and required tools and ingredients that I was unable to and am still unable to get my hands on. Therefore, I came up with my own rendition as below instructs. My picture looks nothing like the one in the magazine but I must say my photography skills are improving; they just aren’t, well, professional-quality yet.  Well I can’t attest to what the magazine’s chicken tasted like but I believe mine could give it a run for its money! The skin was seasoned and crisp, meat juicy and full of flavor, and the fennel, being baked last, maintained its delicious texture and aroma.

Fresh Herbed Roasted Chicken

Serves: 2-4

OBJ: TCW be able to take advantage of the local farmers’ market abundance of fresh herbs

Ingredients:

2 skin on, bone in, chicken breast

2 TBS fresh rosemary, finely chopped

¼ C fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

5 garlic cloves, grated

2 TBS extra virgin olive oil, plus extra 3 TBS for later

½ lemon, reserve juice and slice into rounds

½ tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp red pepper flake

1 fennel bulb, roughly chopped into large 2 inch chunks

Procedures:

1. In a large sealable bag, place and combine all ingredients except chicken, fennel, and extra olive oil

2. Place chicken inside bag, seal and toss insides around quite generously to coat the chicken with marinade

3. Refrigerate for 3 hours, tossing every hour or so

4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

5. Place entire contents of bag in a roasting pan, breast/skin side up

6.  Drizzle the additional 2 TBS olive oil and a pinch S & P over chicken breasts

7. Roast for 30 minutes, remove pan from oven

8. In a small bowl, toss fennel chunks with 1 TBS olive oil and a pinch S & P, add fennel to pan and finish roasting for 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (meat thermometer should read 180 and juices will run clear when cut into)  total cooking time about 50 minutes

9. Remove from oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing