‘Jayni’s Kitchen’ offers recipes for the birds

Join “Jayni’s Kitchen” this week for “Chicken: Three ways to cook the whole bird.”

Host Jayni Carey, right, will prepare several chicken dishes, including the recipe below.

A new show airs at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday each week on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 and repeats at 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The show is also broadcast at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. Sunday and 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Oven-Roasted Orange-Fennel Chicken With Fresh Fennel, Carrots And Potatoes

1 whole chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)

1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seed

1/4 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground

1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

3 tablespoons fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 fennel bulb

8 ounces carrots (3 medium), peeled and cut into sticks

1 pound potatoes, peeled and quartered lengthwise

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

salt and black pepper, to taste

Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, remove the tail. Butterfly the chicken by cutting down one side of the back bone from the thigh to the wing. Turn chicken around and cut down the other side of the back bone, wing to thigh. (Or, remove the back bone in the same fashion using a sharp knife.)

Turn the chicken over, breast-side up, and press firmly on the breast to crack the breast bone. Rinse the chicken in cold running water, drain and pat dry with paper towels. Fold the wings back behind the body joint. Place the chicken in a large plastic storage bag.

Make Orange-Fennel Blend: Using a mortar and pestle or a spice grinder, coarsely grind the fennel seed. Coarsely grind 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a pepper mill. Combine fennel seed, ground pepper, marjoram and thyme in a small bowl.

In a small bowl, combine orange juice, lemon juice, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon Orange Fennel Blend. Whisk in the olive oil. Pour the mixture over the chicken and seal the storage bag. Turn the bag over several times until the chicken is well-coated with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight, turning the bag several times.

Trim the top and bottom of the fennel bulb. Remove any bruised outer pieces. Quarter the fennel bulb lengthwise; core and slice lengthwise into 1-inch-wide slices. Blanch the fennel slices in boiling salted water for 3 minutes. Pour the fennel into a strainer and drain well.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the fennel, carrots and potatoes in a large baking dish. Add extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat.

Place a baking rack in or over the baking dish, covering the vegetables. Place the butterflied chicken on the rack, breast-side up, and top with 2 tablespoons of marinade in bag. Roast for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, until the chicken and vegetables are tender.

Let the chicken rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Cut the chicken into quarters. Remove vegetables from baking dish with a slotted spoon and serve with chicken.

Makes 4 servings.