A hearty and satisfying chicken dish with an enormous punch of fantastic flavour that’s brightened with citrus and bolstered with anise liqueur. The oven does the work in this mostly hands-off main with minimal prep - a delicious family meal that’s ready in less an hour.
Arak is an anise-flavoured, grape-based liqueur produced in Levant region and the best substitute is Turkish Raki. Other alternatives are French Pernod, Italian Sambuca, which has added sugar though, or Greek Ouzo. They ain’t exactly the same, but share some similarities, and work just as fine. If you don’t want to cook with alcohol, then use 1-2 tablespoons of anis oil combined with chicken stock.

 

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak

adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

100 ml Arak or Raki 4 tbsp Olive oil 1 Clementine, juiced 3 tbsp Fresh lemon juice 2 tbsp Dijon whole-grain mustard 2-3 tbsp Coconut sugar (or brown sugar) 1½ tsp Sea salt 1 tsp Freshly milled black pepper 8 Chicken drumsticks 2 Medium fennel bulbs (about 500 g), cut into wedges 3 Clementines, cut horizontally into 0.5cm-thick slices 1 tbsp Thyme or rosemary leaves 2 tsp Fennel seeds, crushed 1 tbsp Chopped parsley, to garnish

1. In large bowl, combine arak, olive oil, clementin juice, lemon juice, mustard, and coconut sugar with sea salt and black pepper. Whisk well and set aside.
2. Trim fennel and cut each bulb in half lengthwise. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Add fennel to marinade along with chicken, clementine slices, thyme leaves and crushed fennel seeds. Stir well with your hands, then let marinate in refrigerator a few hours, up to overnight.
3. Heat oven to 250C/480F. Transfer chicken, skin side up, and marinade to a baking sheet large enough to accommodate everything comfortably in single layer. Roast until chicken is golden and cooked through, 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven and garnish with chopped parsley.
4. Alternatively, transfer the chicken, fennel and clementines to a large platter and cook the pan juice in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sauce is reduced by one-third. Pour the hot sauce over chicken, sprinkle with parsley and enjoy.