Remo’s roast chicken with fennel seeds & rosemary

Preheat oven to 190°C fanbake. Mix together fennel seeds, garlic, salt and extra virgin olive oil.

Rinse chicken inside and out, removing any fat from inside cavity. Pat dry with paper towels. Put rosemary stems inside cavity. Slip finger between the skin and breast meat, taking care not to tear the skin, and slip in garlic and fennel oil. Massage it along the breasts. Squeeze lemon all over chicken skin, rubbing lemon on skin, then put squeezed lemon half in cavity with the rosemary. Tie chicken with string and season it with salt and pepper, then transfer to an ovenproof dish, choosing one in which it fits snugly.

Pour around the wine and cover dish with a lid (failing a lid, cover first with baking paper, then with tinfoil). Bake for 30 minutes, then remove from oven, baste and pour ½ cup stock around chicken. Cover again, return to oven and cook for 15 minutes more.

Remove chicken from oven, remove lid, tilt chicken to let juices run from cavity, then baste chicken well. Return it to the oven, uncovered, and baste every 10 minutes, adding more stock as it evaporates. If the stock dries up, the sediment can scorch then burn and the juices will be ruined.

Cook for about 30 minutes more (1¼-1½ hours in total), or until juices run clear when a skewer is inserted in the thickest meatiest part of the thigh. Baste again, then let the chicken sit in the dish for at least 10 minutes, but up to 30 minutes or so, to absorb juices, plump and soften. The chicken will be at its peak 25-35 minutes after coming out of the oven.

Transfer chicken to a board. Tilt roasting dish and scoop off fat (or use a fat separating jug). Bubble up juices, adding a little more stock if they are a bit scanty. Carve chicken and arrange on a plate, then spoon over pan juices.

Cook's tip We like to serve this with a salad of leaves from the garden and some form of roasted crunchy potatoes.

Article from the July, 2012 issue of Taste magazine .