Description
Elevate your culinary experience with a succulent citrus chicken dish that incorporates the aromatic flavours of fennel and fresh dill.
Ingredients
Units
- 1 grapefruit
- 3 oranges
- 2 chicken legs
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds*
- 2 red chillies, finely diced, or more chilli flakes
- 1 red onion
- Fennel bulb
- 250ml chicken stock
- 10g (a rough handful) fresh dill (half for dressing, half for yoghurt)
- 1 cup, plus 2 tbsp thick and creamy plain yoghurt for serving
- Olive oil, salt, and pepper as needed
*If you don’t have fennel seeds, coriander seeds will work here, or add some dill/fennel fronds to the roasting tray with the orange slices. If really stuck, simply omit them.
Instructions
- Zest the grapefruit and all the oranges into a bowl or container.
- Add the juice of half of one orange to the bowl, then grate in the garlic cloves.
- Add the chilli flakes, 2 tbsp of yoghurt, the chicken legs, a drizzle of oil, and a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients together to combine. Marinate for at least 20 minutes, but ideally an hour or overnight.
- Once ready to cook, place a pan on medium-high heat, and once hot, add a drizzle of oil.
- Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off the excess. Reserve the marinade.
- Place the legs skin-side down in the pan and cook until golden brown. Remove and set aside.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and in the residual heat, toast the fennel seeds, and add one of the fresh red chillies, diced finely. Once the fennel seeds are fragrant, deglaze the frying pan with the chicken marinade, and stock or water scraping the base to remove the caramelized bits. Set aside.
- Slice one of the whole oranges into thick rounds and cut the fennel bulb into chunky wedges through the root end.
- Peel the red onion, then cut half into wedges, saving the other half for the citrus salsa.
- Arrange the browned legs, fennel, onion wedges, and orange slices in a roasting tray suitably for your air fryer, with the legs on top, skin side up.
- Pour over the marinade and pan juices.
- Sprinkle over salt and pepper, then cover the dish with foil and place it in the air fryer or oven.
- Cook:
In the air fryer:
Roast at 185°C for roughly 30 – 40 minutes or until a temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 55°C. Remove the foil.
Return to the air fryer to cook at 190°C for 10 – 15 minutes or until a temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 77 – 79°C.
In the oven:
Roast at 195°C for roughly 30 – 40 minutes or until a temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 55°C. Remove the foil.
Return to the oven to cook at 210°C for 10 – 15 minutes or until a temperature probe inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reaches 77 – 79°C. - While the chicken cooks, slice the top and bottom off your remaining whole orange and the grapefruit.
- Use a serrated knife to remove the peel, cutting along the curve to preserve as much of the citrus inside as possible.
- Cut the orange into half moons, and segment or slice the grapefruit.
- Add the peeled citrus to a bowl, along with the juice of the half orange from earlier.
- Dice the remaining red chilli finely and finely dice the red onion and half the dill.
- Add the onion and chilli to the bowl with the citrus and juice, and add a drizzle of olive oil.
- Stir to combine and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to rest for 5 minutes in a warm spot. The meat will rest and continue to cook, reaching 83-85°C, depending on the size of the cuts. The result is tender, succulent brown meat, with a lovely crispy skin.
- Finely chop the remaining dill, stir it through the yoghurt and season the yoghurt to taste.
- Smear the yoghurt onto two plates, spoon over the roasted oranges, fennel, and onion, top with the citrusy chicken, and finish with a hefty spoon of the chunky citrus salsa.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 55 min
- Category: Mains
- Method: Air fryer