Lady and Pups, Spicy Sambal Meatballs

Ask, and you shall receive! Well, I asked.

I have been needing new and exciting chicken recipes (I know, my life revolves around chicken recipes. Pretty boring, right?) and look what shows up in my "in box" this morning!  This wonderful recipe for Spicy Sambal Meatballs!!

This recipe comes from a wonderful blog that I follow called Lady and Pups. Her photos of the recipes she creates are stunning! I want to make very single recipe she posts.

This especially caught my eyes because, first of all the meatballs are made with chicken thighs. Second, she poaches eggs in the sauce. And third, the sauce is SPICY!! She also stuffs a crusty baguette with these meatballs and poached eggs. It looked amazing!!

Alas, I did not make subs but we still enjoyed the heck out of them. I had to adapt her recipe a little because she calls for long, Asian, red chili's, which I normally find everywhere but for the life of me could not find this time. I bet it's because this recipe went viral, and they sold out... just kidding! So I subbed in jalapeños. And the sambal sauce called for more fish sauce but I ran out when I used it for the meatballs. If you don't have fish sauce, you can sub all the soy sauce for fish sauce.

The one ingredient she says to try not to sub, is the Thai shrimp paste, so I went out specifically for it. It shouldn't be too hard to find.

Oh, and I also doubled the tomatoes because I was worried the sauce would be too spicy, and in fact was perfect because I think the jalapeños that I used were really hot!!

The next time I make this dish though, I'm definitely making subs.


Spicy Sambal Meatballs

(Original recipe from Lady and Pups)

Lemongrass Chicken Meatballs

5 skinless/boneless chicken thighs
4 stalks lemongrass, soft/white parts only
2 garlic cloves, grated
3 shallots, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, grated
1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
3 tablespoons fish sauce or 2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Flash freeze the chicken thigh for 2 hours or until firm. Cut into pieces and grind in a food processor until finely minced.
Trim off the tough ends on both sides of the lemongrass, then cut and mince as finely as you can, otherwise it would be like biting into pieces of wood.
Mix the ground chicken, finely minced lemongrass, shallots, garlic, ginger, mint, cilantro, fish sauce or soy sauce and black pepper.
Shape into balls and bake in oven until lightly browned. At this point you can make these ahead of time and refrigerate until the next day (thats what I did).

After they were baked

Spicy Pineapple Sambal Sauce

1/2 cup pineapple, fresh or canned
The zest and flesh of 1/2 orange
5 jalapeño peppers, sliced
4 small red chili
7 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons Thai shrimp paste
4 teaspoons white vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups canned peeled tomatoes

In a blender, puree the orange zest and juice, pineapple, jalapeños, red chili's, garlic, soy sauce, shrimp paste, vinegar, and brown sugar until smooth. Let it run a few minutes. Don't rinse the blender yet.

To Finish

4-6 eggs

To assemble dish:

In a large non stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown the partially cooked meatballs until nicely browned on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Add the pineapple/ chili sauce and cook until the mixture is reduced by a 1/3. Puree the tomatoes in the same blender and add to the sauce along with the meatballs. Simmer until the sauce is reduced by 1/3 again.
Make little wells in the skillet to make room for the eggs. Carefully drop the eggs then cover completely and simmer until the whites set and egg yolks are runny. Turn off the heat and serve immediately.

m xo

Jamie Oliver's Couscous Stuffed Roasted Chicken

Yes I know, another chicken recipe! I have been trying to get creative with chicken because as you may know, my husband is watching what he eats and all he wants every night is chicken. He could just have baked chicken breast EVERY single night and be perfectly ok with it. I, on the other hand, could not! I need variety and am constantly looking for ideas. And then I remembered this whole roasted chicken recipe from Jamie Oliver that I made a few years back, stuffed with couscous. It was delicious!

And whats even better, I got a few meals out it. Caesar salad with chicken, the next night. Lunches for us, the rest of the week. And then I made a beautiful, rich broth with the bones that I'm planning on making a soup with, the end of the week.

The couscous stuffing is so fragrant and delicious in this, that I'm thinking next year for Thanksgiving, I might switch up my usual bread stuffing. It also felt "lighter".

I used a big bird for this, almost 4 pounds, so it look almost 2 hours to cook. Adjust your cooking time to the size of your chicken. And use a thermometer to make sure it is done. The internal temp should be 160F.

Couscous Stuffed Roasted Chicken
Adapted from Jamie Oliver's cookbook, Jamie's Kitchen


1 whole chicken
1 cup couscous, I used whole wheat
Zest and juice of an orange
Zest and juice of a lemon, reserving the lemon halves
2 handfuls of pistachios, or any nut,  roughly chopped
2 handfuls of dried blueberries, or any dried fruit
1 large handful of fresh mint and parsley, plus a little extra to throw on top, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to coat chicken
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 cardamon seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven 375F.
Put your couscous, orange and lemon zest and juice, dried fruit, nuts and fresh herbs in a bowl. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and half a cup of warm water and mix everything together.
With a mortar and pestle or spice blender, pound all the spices with the salt until you have a powder.
Stuff the bird with the couscous mixture. Block the cavity with lemon halves that you have squeezed the juice from. This will keep the couscous from falling out of the chicken.
Rub the chicken with a little olive oil and all of the spice mixture. Throw on the rest of the fresh herb mixture.
Roast the chicken until a thermometer reads 160F. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before carving.

m xo

Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes

Well, as you may have noticed, I haven't been posting much lately. You want to know why? BECAUSE MY HUSBAND IS ON A DIET!!! And I have to say, I'm not liking it much. Not only because he has lost quite a few pounds and I haven't, but also because I'm not cooking what I really want to cook. I've been making a lot chicken dishes. I'm getting sick of chicken! And the thing is, he would be totally fine with the same chicken dish over and over. He is a creature of habit, as you know from my blog...remember, he eats the same thing for breakfast, day after day. And now he eats the same thing for lunch, day after day. It's me that needs variety and I am constantly looking for new ways to make chicken, which I have to say, hasn't been that easy. There are only so many different recipes on Pinterest!

This time I decided to braise the chicken with fennel and tomatoes. Braising the keeps the breasts moist. Easy. Tasty. One pot meal. Doesn't get any better than this.

Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes 

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 green onions, sliced
1 jalapeño, sliced, totally optional
1 tablespoon capers
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to pan. Let it brown on one side for about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over and add the fennel, tomatoes, green onions, jalapeño and capers. Pour the the stock over, cover and reduce the heat. Cook until the chicken is done, which should tale about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

m xo

Chicken Saltimbocca

Saltimbocca means, "jumps in the mouth" in Italian. It's a traditional Roman dish made with thinly, pounded veal that is lined with prosciutto and topped with a piece of sage. I made it with chicken but you can also make it with pork. Your choice of meat needs to be thin because if it is too thick, the side with the prosciutto and sage would burn because it would take too long to cook. If you don't want to do it yourself, you can buy chicken cutlets. But I highly recommend you do it yourself. It's super easy and a lot more economical. What? Did I just say that?...We do become our mothers. Hahaha!!!

I was inspired to make this dish because the sage bush in my garden is huge! I want to use as much as I can from my garden. I can slowly see that everything is coming to end and that makes me very sad.

Chicken Saltimbocca

2 chicken breasts
4 slices prosciutto
8 sage leaves
Olive oil
Pepper
Toothpicks

Place chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with cling film. Using a rolling pin or something heavy, pound out until they are thin. You can cut them into pieces if they too big. Pepper each side. Lay a piece of prosciutto on each piece of chicken and top with a sage leaf or two. Secure with a toothpick.
Heat olive oil in a pan and add chicken in a single layer, prosciutto side down and cook until brown. With a spatula, carefully turn over and cook until brown. It should only take a minute. You want the sage to be intact. Serve.

m xo

Goat Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken

I didn't always like goat cheese. In fact, I quite detested it. Every time I tried it, I always thought it tasted "goaty". It just wasn't my thing. Until recently. All of a sudden I developed a taste for the tanginess of the goat cheese. I really enjoy it! You just never know. One day your palette just changes.

I decided to make stuffed chicken breasts with goat cheese and spinach that I had hanging around and needed using. I first cooked the spinach in a pan until wilted. Let it cool and then chopped it. Sauteed an onion and mixed it together with the spinach, the zest of a lemon, salt and pepper to taste and of course the goat cheese. Stuffed the chicken breasts and baked them. They were so delicious and I almost forgot I was eating chicken breast. The cheese was so creamy. Mmmmm!!! I can't wait to make these for a dinner party. You can make them ahead of time and keep in the refrigerator until ready to bake.

Goat Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Chicken

5-6 chicken breasts, boneless
1 red onion, chopped
1 cup cooked spinach, chopped
1 cup goat cheese, room temperature
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil to sauté the onion and drizzle over chicken

Preheat to 400F.
In the meantime, in a pan, heat a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the onion until soft. Set aside and let cool for a couple of minutes. In a bowl, mix the spinach, goat cheese, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and add the sautéed onion.
Using a sharp knife held horizontally and starting at the thinner side of the chicken, cut in half almost but not all the way through, like a book. Spread approximately 1 tablespoon stuffing on one side and fold over with the other side. Salt and pepper the top and place in a greased, oven proof dish. Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake in oven for 30 minutes or until chicken is golden and no longer pink inside.

m xo

Stuffed Tomatoes

This recipe came together easily enough. I was supposed to make stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner but after seeing an iridologist earlier in the day for some minor health issues, she told me to eliminate mushrooms. So I had to come up with plan B. Stuffed tomatoes! Why? Because they were on my counter. And actually, they were really great because I used ground chicken and the tomatoes added a lot of juice. John really enjoyed them.

I essentially used my meatball recipe but subbed the chicken for the beef and because the iridologist also told me to eliminate bread, I subbed soaked oatmeal for breadcrumbs. It worked well for this. I would definitely do this for meatballs and tomato sauce too.

I had about a dozen medium sized tomatoes and I still had a little stuffing left over, which I made into a patty and grilled. It just depends on the size of your tomatoes. I'm going to say 12 for this recipe and if you have left over stuffing, grill it for lunch the next day.

Stuffed Tomatoes

12 medium sized tomatoes
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 cup oatmeal, soaked in milk for 20 minutes
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped herbs (I used a combination of cilantro, mint and basil)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
olive oil to drizzle over tomatoes

Preheat oven to 400F.
Slice off the tops of the tomatoes and with a small spoon, scoop out the seeds and some of the membranes. Sprinkle the inside with salt and turn upside down on paper towels.
In the meantime, in a bowl combine the ground chicken, soaked oatmeal, egg, parmesan cheese, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Stuff the tomatoes to the top and place in a greased oven proof baking dish. Drizzle the tops of the tomatoes with more olive oil. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes until the tops are golden. Serve.

m xo

Chicken Pozole Soup

I didn't get my Mexican fix the last time I went to NYC, so I decided to make a Mexican influenced dish at home for tonights dinner.

Pozole (also called hominy) are kernels of corn that have ben soaked in lime water, hulled and boiled so they become puffy. You can find canned pozole in most grocery stores nowadays. Traditionally they are used in a soup with pork but I decided to make a lighter version using roasted chicken.

I made this recipe up as I went along and it was pretty good except maybe next time I would add a little chili powder and definitely a jalapeño, for a some heat. It needed some zing and we like it a little spicy. And you definitely need a little squeeze of lime juice before serving, it adds some brightness to the soup. This soup is perfect on a chilly day.

Chicken Pozole Soup

2 chicken thighs, roasted and shredded
4 Roma tomatoes
1 yellow onion, halved
2 garlic cloves, skin on
4 cups chicken stock
1 can pozole, or 1-1 1/2cups
salt and pepper, to taste
cilantro, chopped
lime wedges

In a cast iron skillet, over high heat, place the tomatoes, onion and garlic and cook until there is a nice charr on them. This will give the soup a nice smokey flavour. Transfer the vegetables (take the skin off the garlic) to a blender and pour in the chicken stock. Blend until smooth. Pour into a sauce pan and cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes. You might have to skim the top. Season with salt and pepper and add the cilantro and shredded chicken. Cook until the chicken is heated through. Serve in soup bowls and squeeze in some lime juice before serving.

m xo

Chicken Chili

I looked out the window the other night and noticed the sun shining…then I looked at the clock…then I looked out again. It was 7:30 and still daylight! Wow, I can't tell you how happy that made me feel. I finally started to see the light (no pun intended) at the end of the tunnel. It's amazing how a little sunshine can make you feel. This winter in particular. It has been so loooong. I'm sure we are sick of hearing ourselves complain about it. I know I am.

Today was a beautiful sunny day…sunny but cold, so I wanted to make something warming and comforting. Chili hits the spot for me. The heat from the spices and peppers takes the edge off a cold night.

I used leftover roasted chicken from last nights dinner, but if I hadn't had leftovers, I would have baked off some chicken breasts and thighs.

I like using poblano peppers for this recipe when I can find them. Poblanos are a mild chili pepper originating from Puebla, Mexico. They have a nice smokey flavour. They can have a little kick sometimes, which is nice for people that don't like it too spicy. They tend to have a tougher skin than most peppers so thats why I roasted and peeled them.

 I usually do this on the grill outdoors, but again, too cold, so I just placed the whole peppers directly on my gas stove flame. Use tongs to rotate and flip the peppers. You want to keep your eyes on them. When they are completely charred and blistered, place them in a sealed plastic bag or bowl covered with plastic wrap to trap the steam inside. Let them sit for 15 minutes. Then peel and seed the peppers. You can use this method with any pepper.


Chicken Chili

Leftover roasted chicken, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 poblano peppers, roasted. peeled and chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
19 oz. can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups chicken stock or water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
lime wedges (optional)

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, poblano peppers, jalapeño, cumin, chili powder, oregano and salt. Sauté until the vegetables are soft and fragrant. Add the chicken, kidney beans and chicken stock or water and turn up the heat a little. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve each bowl with a wedge of lime.

m xo

Surprise! Chicken Skewers

This recipe simply came about because I found these cute little bamboo skewers in my cupboard that I completely forgot about. I tend to buy things based on what I MAY need. It's a running joke with my family. My thinking is, what if I decided to throw a cocktail party at the last minute and didn't have any bamboo skewers? Well that would be terrible! This way, I'm always prepared. The only problem with that is, I usually forget what I bought and if I do remember, I forget where I put it!

These chicken skewers were tasty not only because of the marinade but also because of the gremolata that I threw on after they came off the grill. Gremolata is typically what you would serve with osso bucco and it consists of parsley, lemon zest and garlic. I basically wanted to mimic the flavours of the marinade. It makes any dish taste fresh and vibrant. It's also really good on roasted potatoes.

BTW, I made these on my stove top cast iron grill. There was no way I was going to stand outside in this polar vortex!

A tip if you are using wooden/bamboo skewers. Soak them in water before threading on the chicken. I forgot and they caught on fire…a little bit. No biggie. I had it under control. Ha!

These would also be amazing to pass around as hors d'oeuvres if you only skewered 1-2 pieces of chicken.

Chicken Skewers

6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 4 pieces
zest and juice of a lemon
1 clove of garlic, minced or grated with a microplane
1 teaspoon herb de provence
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
10-12 skewers, wooden or metal

Combine all ingredients together in a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

In the meantime, soak your wooden skewers in water and preheat outdoor bbq or indoor grill.
Thread 3-4 pieces on each skewer. At this point you can refrigerate for a few hours or overnight if you wanted to do ahead of time.


When your grill is hot, cook them for 5-6 minutes on each side or until cooked. Sprinkle with the gremolata and serve.

Gremolata

1/2 cup of parsley
zest of a lemon
1 clove of garlic

Place the parsley on a cutting board and chop. Mince the garlic over it with a microplane grater, add the zest and run your knife over it to combine everything. Set aside.

m xo

Paella

Isn't paella amazing?! You have everything in one dish. A little sausage, some poultry, a bit of seafood and of course rice. What more can you ask for? I love it!

There are many recipes for this Spanish national dish depending on the region and the cook. This recipe is very loosely based on The Dean and DeLuca cookbook by David Rosengarten that I have had many years. It's my go-to paella recipe. It's a pretty simple and forgiving recipe. Please don't be intimidated by it.

I like taking out my paella pan that a friend gave me many years ago from Spain but you can use a wide, oven proof skillet.

Paella

olive oil
6 oz chorizo, sliced
2 chicken thighs, skinless with bone in
2 chicken legs, skinless with bone in
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
saffron threads
5-6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon sambuca
1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled
parsley
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in pan over high heat. Cook the chorizo slices until brown.
Remove and set aside. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to skillet. Sear on both sides. Remove and set aside.
Lower heat to medium and put the rice in the same pan and stir around for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic, fennel and pepper flakes and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add the wine, saffron threads and 5 cups of chicken stock. Season with salt if you have to (depending on your chicken stock). Bring to a boil and nestle the chorizo and the chicken in the rice and add the sambuca. Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes. Bury the shrimp in the rice 20 minutes into the cooking time. You might have to add more stock if the rice had soaked it all up. It is ready when the rice is tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

Buen apetito!

m xo

Caesar Salad with Chicken

I really like caesar salad, especially for dinner with the addition of chicken. And once you see how much better it is when you make your own dressing, you'll be hooked.
Just a couple of pet peeves regarding caesar salad I need to get out.

I HATE when there is too much garlic in the dressing ( I know, hate is a pretty strong word but it really makes me angry). In my opinion, the garlic should be noticeable but subtle. Nobody needs to know you had caesar salad for the next THREE days. Gross!
I guess because I've always worked in a close proximity to my clients, I'm always conscious of what I eat : ) So I only use 1 or 2 cloves of garlic.

Another thing I really dislike are the packaged croutons. They're way too salty and most of the time they taste stale. I just cube or tear whatever bread I happen to have. Heck, even sliced bread (that's toast bread for all you Anglo-Italian people). Lightly coat with olive oil and a little salt and toast in oven. Easy peasey.
Whenever you have leftover bread and don't know what to do with it, make croutons and store in a zip lock bag for future use. Warning though, you will  be snacking on these all the time! So put them where you don't have easy access to them. Hahaha, but that could just be me!

I'm also not a fan of chicken breast. If it's up to me, I will always choose thighs and legs. When I do cook chicken breast, I cut it on the bias so I get 3-4 pieces. Place each piece between cling film and pound it out a bit. Because they are thin, they cook a few minutes on each side and therefore they are not dry. But you can use whatever cut you want.

Caesar Salad with Chicken

Dressing

3 tablespoons mayo
1 teaspoon anchovy paste or 2 small anchovies, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
a splash of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup vegetable oil, I used a combo of olive oil and veggie oil
pepper to taste
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Romaine lettuce
Croutons
Grilled chicken( breast or thighs)

In a bowl combine mayo, anchovy paste, lemon juice, garlic, Dijon mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Gradually start whisking the oil in drop by drop. You don't want to dump it all in otherwise it won't emulsify and will separate. It should be thick and glossy. Stir in the parmesan cheese and season with pepper. You can definitely make the dressing a day ahead.
Dress your romaine leaves and croutons. Top with chicken.

m xo

Braised Eggs with Chicken, Tahini and Sumac

The Jerusalem cookbook is one of many that I own by Yotam Ottolenghi, an Isreali, Italian, London based chef. I LOVE all his recipes that I have tried so far. Not only are they delicious, but crowd pleasing too. This recipe in particular seems complicated but I assure you it is not. Once you have all the ingredients in front of you, it comes together pretty quickly.
The original recipe is made with ground lamb but neither I or my husband like lamb so I subbed ground chicken. Next time I would use dark meat only or ground beef, as it was a little dry, but still great tasting!! I also didn't have preserved lemons so I used lemon zest.
Warning, this dish is spicy because of the harissa paste but the yogurt sauce really cools it down. If you don't like heat, either cut down on the paste or omit it.


Braised Eggs with Chicken, Tahini and Sumac
( adapted from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi)

Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
12 oz ground chicken
2 teaspoons sumac
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 cup toasted, unsalted pistachios, crushed
7 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
2 teaspoons harissa paste
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup chicken stock
4 large eggs
cilantro
salt & pepper

Yogurt Sauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1 1/2 tablespoons tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water

Saute onion and garlic in a little olive until soft and golden. Turn up heat and add the ground chicken until browned. Add sumac, cumin, salt and pepper and cook for another minute. Turn off heat and add nuts, harissa, and lemon zest.
In the meantime, char the tomatoes either in a hot pan or under the broiler. Set aside.
Mix the ingredients for yogurt sauce with a pinch of salt. Set aside.
Reheat meat and add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Make 4 small wells in the mix and break an egg in each well. Cover and cook the eggs over low heat for 3 minutes. Place the tomatoes on top and cover again for 5 minutes or until the whites are cooked.
Remove from heat and dot with yogurt sauce. Sprinkle with cilantro.

m xo

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Sambuca

Of course like many people, I gained a couple pounds this holiday season so I'm trying to reign it in the next few weeks so it doesn't get out of control. And I'm always looking for recipes that don't sacrifice flavour.

This is a lovely recipe!  Roasted chicken with caramelized fennel and a hint of anise.  It originally called for Arak, a Middle Eastern anise flavoured spirit but I didn't have any so I subbed Sambuca. I marinated my chicken overnight but I'm sure it would be just as good if you are pressed for time. Next time though, I would add a couple more bulbs of fennel because we couldn't get enough of it. My husband and I were fighting over it!

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Sambuca (adapted from Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi) 6 1/2 tablespoons Sambuca 4 tablespoons olive oil 3 tablespoons orange juice 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons grainy mustard 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 medium fennel bulbs, cut into wedges 2 1/2-3 lbs chicken, cut into 8-10 pieces 4 clementines, unpeeled and sliced 1 tablespoons thyme 2 1/2teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly crushed Salt and pepper Parsley, chopped

Put the first 6 ingredients in a large bowl and add 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper.Whisk.
Add the fennel wedges, chicken pieces, clementine slices, thyme and fennel seeds. Coat the chicken well and marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 475°F.
Transfer chicken and marinade to a roasting pan in a single layer with fennel and clementines at the bottom with skin side up. Roast for 35-45 minutes until chicken is cooked through.Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

m xo