Chicken with roasted fennel and peppers and clementines

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 250 g chicken breast fillet(s)
• 200 g fennel bulb(s)
• 160 g pointed peppers, red
• 2 m.-large clementine(s)
• 2 spring onions
• 350 ml chicken broth
• 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp raw cane sugar
• 2 tsp mustard seeds
• ½ tbsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• ¾ tsp fermented red pepper flakes (Isot Biber)
• ½ tsp anise seeds
• 1 tbsp oil for frying
• e.g. salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 35 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 55 minutes

Cut the flesh into strips. Wash the fennel and trim off the root end. Quarter the fennel lengthwise and cut crosswise into thin strips. Wash the pointed peppers, remove the stalks and seeds, and cut the peppers into strips. Peel the clementines, remove the fillets, and trim some of the white inner skin. Wash the spring onions and cut into rings, separating the green parts from the white parts. In a pan, dry-roast the mustard seeds, fennel seeds, and aniseed for about 4 minutes over high heat, then remove from the pan and grind in a mortar. Heat half the oil in the pan and fry the vegetable strips over high heat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pepper strips begin to brown. Reduce the heat slightly. Add the clementine fillets and the white rings of the spring onions and fry for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the raw cane sugar, mix, and let everything caramelize briefly. Deglaze everything with the chicken stock. Add the ground spices, thyme, Isot Biber, and apple cider vinegar and bring to a boil. Cook uncovered over medium heat for about 10 minutes, reducing the heat slightly, occasionally crushing the clementines. Towards the end of the cooking time, sear the chicken strips in another pan with the remaining oil for about 1-2 minutes, then add them to the vegetables. Add half of the green spring onion rings, stir in, and simmer briefly. Finally, season the dish with lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Garnish with the remaining green spring onion rings when serving. I served it with rice, but bulgur also works well. Vegetarians or vegans can omit the meat and use more fennel and paprika, as well as vegetable broth. Tips: If you only want to use one pan, sear the meat before the vegetables and keep it warm until ready to use. Keeping the chicken warm may dry it out a bit. If you don’t have Isot Biber flakes, use chili flakes, but only in half the amount. The fermented paprika flakes add a moderate spiciness, but also fruity-sweet flavors and umami.