Chicken with clementines, roasted with fennel and onions in a citrusy marinade, is a knock-out dish to serve for a weeknight meal or a weekend gathering. It's also special enough and easy enough for all your holiday gatherings. Adapted from a recipe from the Jerusalem cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi.
1medium fennel bulbgreen top trimmed and saved for another use
1medium onioncut into wedges
1large chicken cut up or about 8 chicken thighs for a total of 2 ¾ lbs of chicken
4clementinesunpeeled, sliced in about ¼ inch pieces cross-wise
chopped flat leaf parsley to garnishoptional
Instructions
Prepare your marinade using the first 10 ingredients. Whisk together in a medium mixing bowl or place the ingredients directly into the roasting pan and mix well.
Place the chicken, fennel and onions into your roasting pan and pour the marinade over, if it's not already in the pan. Make sure everything is coated with marinade and either place the clementines on top (I like to put the clementines on top because it looks gorgeous!) or mix them in with the fennel and onions and chicken. Cover and refrigerate if planning to marinate for a few hours or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 425°F. When ready to roast, remove the cover of the roasting pan. Cook uncovered, making sure the chicken skin is facing up. It will take 40 to 45 minutes. Start checking at 35 minutes. The clementines will be quite brown, even black around the edges and the chicken skin should be nicely browned. White meat chicken should be cooked to 165°F and dark meat chicken to at least 175°F. (note: though my picture shows a glass pan, if you plan to broil at the end or cook at higher than 425°F, use a non-glass roasting pan).
Once out of the oven, transfer the chicken, fennel, onion, and clementines to a serving platter. Optionally, pour the sauce in a saucepan to reduce by about a third. If you don't have time to reduce the sauce, it is fine as is. Pour some on the chicken, sprinkle a bit of fresh chopped parsley if you like and serve with basmati rice or a side of your choice. And eat those clementines, even with the dark edges - I promise they are delicious!
Notes
If your oranges appear to be as cooked as you'd like before the chicken is done, just remove them to your serving platter while the chicken finishes or tuck them safely into the juices in the pan. (just be careful of the hot pan when doing this!)
The original recipe in the Jerusalem cookbook roasts at an even higher temperature. You can cook this at 450 or 475 but I like the slightly lower 425°F. If you want the chicken even browner than it ends up, just turn on the broiler for a couple minutes. (Assuming you are using a roasting pan that can take temperatures above 425°F.)
Take advantage of shortcuts - make the marinade ahead and let the chicken and vegetables sit in it as long as overnight. And mixing the marinade right in the roasting pan saves you dishes!
If your vegetables cook faster or slower than the chicken, by chance, just remove what's done and let the rest cook for a smidge longer.