Poultry with a heady mixture of flavours and Persian fried rice

Today, on a sunny Winter morning whist going through the morning news, I landed on Yotam Ottolenghi’s column in The Guardian: roasted guineafowl with fennel crumble. There was a fresh whole chicken in our fridge waiting to be cooked away. Thinking poultry is poultry is poultry, I went and seasoned the chicken with a heady mix of anchovy, garlic and lemon and roasted (in 180°C oven) it together with fennel. After 30 minutes or so—to finish the fennels with a golden brown crumble—I added a mix of fresh breadcrumbs and finely grated Parmesan. Then I continued roasting until the internal temperature of the bird was close to 75°C and then I let it sit for 5 minutes.
A note to myself: must remember to blanch the fennel for few minutes before roasting...

I also prepared a sweet-but-sharp rice dish with saffron, onion, sultanas, barberries, pistachios, orange zest and chicken stock; my version of the Iranian/Persian fried rice dish also known as Shirin Polow.


These foods are packed with flavours. Ottolenghi's chicken was succulently moreish and easy to make.


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