Roasted chicken with clementines & arak

For ➍
6 tbs arak (or ouzo or pernod)
4 tbs olive oil
3 tbs freshly squeezed orange juice
3 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbs grainy mustard
3 tbs light brown sugar
1½ ts kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 medium fennel bulbs cut lengthwise, then into quarters
8 chicken thighs (about 1.3 kg)*
4 clementines, unpeeled, sliced thin
1 tbs fresh thyme leaves
2 ts fennel seeds, lightly crushed
parsley, to garnish

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together arak, oil, orange and lemon juices, mustard, brown sugar and salt. Season with pepper, to taste. Add fennel, chicken, clementine slices, thyme and crushed fennel seeds. Turn several times to coat. If time allows marinate chicken for several hours or preferably overnight.**
Preheat oven to 220°C. Tranfer all ingredients, including marinade, to a large roasting pan. Chicken should be skin side up. Roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, 35-45 m.*** Remove from the oven.
Lift chicken, fennel and clementines on a serving plate. Cover and keep warm.
Pour cooking liquid into a small saucepan. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then simmer until sauce is reduced and you are left with about 8 cl (⅓ cup). You can degrease by using a spoon to remove some of the fat from top of the sauce.
Pour heated sauce over chicken. Garnish with parsley and serve. Serve with jasmine rice. Or with Greek lemon roasted potatoes.

*Or 1 large organic or free-range chicken, about 1.3 kg, divided into 8 pieces.
**Omit the marinade. Put the chicken and marinade in oven when it is pre-heating.
***Vegetables and fruit might be a little bit overcooked with this time-schedule. Add vegetables and fruit 10-15 m after chicken and marinade to have them crispier. When fowl meat is cut in smallish pieces (4x4 cm), all the cooking can be finished in some 20 m.
Otherwise, or when the chicken is not cooked through after this time, remove chicken and give it a microwave heat burst (1 m/ 100 g).

Lamb & fennel

For ➍
1 large fennel bulb
1 onion
4 slices of leg of lamb, 150 g each
salt & pepper
butter
1 tbs of curry powder
50 cl pastis*
20 cl sour cream

Cut the stalks of the fennel. Keep the green for garnish. Cut bulb into cubes of 1x1 cm.
Peel the onion and cut into cubes of 1x1 cm.
Add salt and pepper to the slices of meat.
Melt butter.
Bake the meat rosey (or done at 3 m each side). Remove from skillet.
In the butter, fry the fennel and onion for about 5 m.
Add the curry powder. Add the pastis*.
Add sour cream. Cook into a smooth sauce.
Serve the meat on a hot plate and add the sauce. Decorate with fennel greens.
Serve with fresh rice and a glass of dry white wine like Muscadet.

*Replace with ½ tbs of aniseed or cumin.

Bouillabaisse de poulet aux légumes (Provençal chicken stew)

For ➍
4 chicken breasts
1 carrot, chopped
1 fennel, chopped
1 leek (white), sliced
4 tomatoes
1 jet of pastis
1 capsule of saffron threads
½ chicken stock cube
2 potatoes with firm flesh
5 cl olive oil
pepper & salt
1 baguette
chopped chives
fresh rouille

Heat 5 cl of olive oil in a casserole. Add the chopped and sliced ​​vegetables; sauté for 10 m over moderate heat (vegetables should be transparent without losing their colour).
Wash and chop the tomatoes. Sift tomato juice over vegetables, squeeze the pulp to extract the most juice.
Season with salt and pepper. Add pastis and saffron. Add 0.5 l of water. Melt the stock tablet; bring to a boil, cover and cook at a rolling boil for 5 m.
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cubes 0.5 cm. Add the potatoes to the other vegetables and cook 10 m, uncovered.
Poach the chicken breasts in the sauce for 20 m. Do not boil but maintain just below boiling point.
Meanwhile, prepare the rouille.
Cut the baguette into slices and brown under the grill.
Divide the chicken breasts on plates. Surround with the vegetables and the sauce. Smear the rouille on the rust baguette pieces and arrange them around the chicken pieces. Garnish with chopped chives.

Summer pea soup

For ➍
250 g shelled peas (frozen)
150 g fennel, cut into small pieces, fronds apart
1 small onion, peeled & chopped
1 potato, cubed
50 cl (chicken) stock
1 tbs pastis
2 tbs sour cream
bunch of mint
freshly ground pepper
salt

Fry the onion and potato in a large soup pot. Add the peas and diced fennel.
Add the broth. Simmer for 15 m over medium heat.
Add the mint leaves. Process the soup with a mixer or robot until very fine. Rub the puree through a sieve.
Let the soup cool in the refrigerator.
Before serving, mix the pastis and sour cream into the soup. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Redfish with fennel & pastis

For ➍
4 redfish fillets*
2 fennel bulbs
1 onion, coarsely chopped
5 cl/ 3 tbs olive oil
1 lime, sliced
parsley to taste, finely chopped
chervil to taste, finely chopped
basil to taste, finely chopped
coriander to taste, finely chopped
4 tbs pastis

Preheat the oven to 220°C.
Wash the fennel and remove the outer leaves. Cut the fennel into strips.
Sauté the onion and fennel briefly in the olive oil and toss them in a baking dish.
Season the redfish fillets with salt and pepper and put on the vegetables. Drizzle a little olive oil. Put a few slices of lime on the fish. Put the baking dish in the oven for 20 m.
Meanwhile, chop the parsley, chervil, basil and coriander.
Take the dish from the oven, pour the pastis on the redfish and sprinkle with green herbs.

*Dutch: roodbaars

Moules provençales (Mussels with fennel & pastis)

For ➍
2 kg large mussels, well washed
2 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, smashed & peeled
1 fennel bulb (about 500 g), trimmed & thinly sliced
2 tbs fennel seeds
10 cl pastis (or 4 whole star anise)
50 g chopped tomatoes* (canned are fine, drained first)
1 sprig fresh tarragon*

Place the oil in a large pot and turn the heat to medium. 1 m later, add the garlic, fennel, fennel seeds, pastis, tomatoes* and tarragon*. Bring to a boil, cook for about 1 m. Add the mussels, cover the pot, and turn the heat to high.
Cook, shaking the pot occasionally, until the mussels open, 5 to 10 m.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the mussels and fennel to a serving bowl, then strain any liquid over them and serve.

*Optional.

Read the related mussels with fennel and tomatoes recipe, or the pastis-free version. Try more Provençal recipes: original tuna salad, fresh tuna & salade niçoise, salade niçoise dressing, Provençal garlic sauce, Saint-Tropez chicken, garlic sauce, Provençal tomato sauce

Spring chicken with fennel & potatoes

For ➍
4 spring chickens (tied), 450 g each
1 clove garlic
8 tbs mustard
8 tbs honey
a pinch each of ground laurel, dried thyme, dried sage (or oregano or rosemary)

2 fennel bulbs
a splash Noilly Prat, a dash pastis (or some white balsamico)

600 g potatoes
a few sprigs parsley
1 tbs olive oil
300 g butter
salt & pepper

Rinse the fennel. Slice each bulb into 8 wedges.Melt a knob of butter in a large pot over medium heat.

Put the fennel in the hot butter and bake for 2-3 m. The bottoms might slightly caramelize. To braise the fennel, add a splash of Noilly Prat and a dash of pastis. Cut a round, the size of the pan, out of a sheet of parchment paper. Pour some water into the pan and place the paper on top of the fennel pieces as a soft cover. Turn heat down to low. Let cook for 25 m. Turn over the slices and cook for 10 m more. Season with pepper and salt.

Cut a knob of butter into cubes. Put in a mixing bowl. Peel and crush the garlic. Mix the pulp with the butter. Add a whiff of various dried herbs. Add some salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Remove the rubber band or string off the birds. Fill each spring chicken with a good knob of herb butter. Re-tie the fowl. Take a baking dish or roasting pan, rub each poussin with a knob of butter and then put them in the dish.

Mix the honey and mustard. Use a kitchen brush to rub the chicken with the sweet and sour mix. Put a few knobs of butter in the baking dish. Fry the poussin 20 to 25 m in the oven.Open the oven door occasionally and spoon the juices over the poussin. Remove the cooked bird from the oven and sprinkle with some juices.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and boil them in lightly salted water until al dente. Cut them into thick slices or bite-size pieces. Melt a knob of butter in a frying pan and add some olive oil.

Bake until golden and season to taste with a pinch of salt and some freshly milled pepper.

Chop fresh parsley over the potatoes and shake the pan gently.

Launch the grill of your oven. Remove the strings that hold the fowl.

Cut each chicken in half, through the carcass. Use a sharp knife. Put the fowl in the roasting pan with the legs up. Spoon some juices over the meat and put it a few m under a hot grill.

Serve on a large plates: potatoes, a few pieces of braised fennel and a halved poussin.

Spoon some of juices over chicken or serve it separately in a gravy boat.