The Ginger and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Braised Fennel from Claire Robinson’s 5 Ingredient Fix (Grand Central, Oct.) puts some interesting flavors to excellent use. The oven temperatures and cooking times produce a perfectly browned bird with buttery, crispy skin (though mine was done in 15-20 minutes less time than what the recipe specified). The fennel becomes sweet and caramelized at the bottom of the roasting pan while the chunks of ginger contribute surprising but welcome spicy bites, and the lemon permeates and enlivens the entire dish. I particularly love that each ingredient is put to multiple uses and nothing is wasted: the fennel bulbs are sliced, the stalks are stuffed inside the bird, and the fronds are used as garnish; the lemon is zested, half is juiced, and the other half is sliced; and the ginger is both grated into the butter and sliced into chunks. The only thing I would change is the amount of butter. I was stuffing so much of it underneath the skin that it began to feel excessive, and I only ended up using 3 to 4 of the 6 total tablespoons called for. That said, maybe you can never have too much butter! I would definitely make this again.
Ginger and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Braised Fennel
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
1 organic roasting chicken (about 4 pounds)
One 6-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
zest of 1 lemon, juice of ½ lemon, and slices of ½ lemon for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
2 whole fennel bulbs, with fronds
Remove the chicken from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut off a 1-inch piece of ginger, grate it on a microplane, and transfer it to a bowl with 4 tablespoons butter. Add the lemon zest. Halve the lemon and squeeze the juice from one half into the butter; slice the other half and reserve. Season the butter with salt and pepper and mix well.
Put the chicken in the roasting pan on a rack. Loosen the skin of the chicken with your fingers under breast and down the thighs. Stuff the ginger-lemon butter under the skin and, using your fingers, spread the paste evenly over the breast meat and thighs. Rub the exterior of the chicken with the remaining butter and season generously with salt and pepper. Remove the fronds from the fennel and reserve; trim the stalks from the bulbs and stuff them into the cavity of the chicken. Cut the fennel bulbs into ¼-inch wedges and reserve. Using kitchen twine, tie the chicken legs to enclose the cavity.
Roast the chicken 20 minutes; remove the pan from the oven and reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Slice the remaining ginger into chunks and add to the roasting pan along with the fennel wedges and lemon slices. Pour in 1 cup water and return the pan to the oven and continue roasting until internal temperature registers 170 degrees F, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork, about 1 ½ hours more.
To serve, scatter the roasted fennel and lemon slices around a serving platter, rest the roasted chicken on top of the vegetables, and garnish with the reserved fennel fronds. Carve tableside.
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