I love the aniseed flavour and fragrance of both fennel and tarragon — they’re the perfect match with chicken and crème fraîche. Lovely with a bowl of cooked asparagus or green beans.
Serves: 4
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
150 grams streaky bacon, sliced into 2cm pieces
1 small brown onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
1 large fennel bulb, stem trimmed, cut into wedges
¾ cup chicken stock (use a stock pot or cube)
¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream
2 teaspoons grain mustard
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
sea salt and ground pepper
TO COOK
6–8 boneless, skin-off chicken thighs
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan bake.
Heat the oil in a 28cm ovenproof frying pan. Add the bacon, onion, garlic and tarragon and cook for 8 minutes until lightly golden. Add the fennel and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk the stock, crème fraîche, mustard and the lemon zest together then tip into the pan and season with salt and pepper.
TO COOK: Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper and fold in half to make plump parcels. Nestle into the pan and spoon some sauce over each one.
Cook uncovered for 40–45 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked, basting a couple of times during cooking.
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In Dream Escape, we journey from Japan and Morocco to Italy, India and beyond, sharing recipes inspired by travel, heritage and comfort. We celebrate the champions of the Outstanding Food Producer Awards, explore the stories and recipes of chefs shaped by their cultural roots, and warm up with everything from West African soups and slow-braised lamb to porchetta, butter chicken and beef noodle soup. Alongside destination menus, Scandinavian sweets and cosy pub classics, Chrisanne Terblanche shares her favourite street-side dining spots in Bangkok, while Yvonne Lorkin explores red wine varietals. This issue, we invite you to slow down, turn the pages and escape through food.