Cooking is less about knowing what you’re doing, and more about looking like you know what you’re doing. That’s why we love this Fennel Pepper Roasted Chicken recipe here at MinkDog Kitchen. Oven roasting a chicken seems more involved than it is. In reality, you toss it in the oven and let the seasoning do the heavy lifting (and in this case, you only need one — MinkDog’s Fennel Pepper Bespoke Blend!) When it comes out, sit back and enjoy the applause. No need to share your secrets.

We recommend investing in butcher’s twine so you can truss the chicken, which means tucking the wings and legs close to the body. This helps keep it extra juicy, but it’s not required. It’ll be delicious no matter what, thanks to the bright, aromatic notes of the Fennel Pepper blend. 

Specialty Equipment:

• Butcher’s twine (optional)
• A well cleaned, rinsed and dried sink
• No-lint kitchen towel

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 425F. Place the bird in the sink and discard any packaging and giblets. Thoroughly rinse the chicken with cold water and pat dry with your kitchen towel.
2. Rub the Fennel Pepper Blend evenly across the bird, focusing on the top and sides. If desired, repeat with optional salt (* MinkDog’s Blends contain less salt than most standard spice mixes, so you can add salt to taste). At this point, you can truss your bird using the butcher’s twine; trussing is a preferred method to keep the bird from losing moisture; however, it is not a necessity. 
3. Place your chicken into the roasting pan, breast side up, tucking the wing tips underneath.  Before roasting, let the seasoned bird rest for about 20 to 30 minutes.  This allows the salt and spices to infuse throughout the skin more evenly. 
4. Place into the oven for an hour and fifteen to an hour and forty five minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees (The bird will carry over and cook to the required 165, confirm this prior to carving).
5. Remove from the oven and transfer the chicken to your board; allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

This succulent chicken is the perfect main course for a sophisticated wine night at your humble abode, but you can also add rice and veggies to meal prep for the week (if you don’t finish it in one sitting, that is). Regardless, we don’t mind if you take the credit for the magic of the Fennel Pepper blend and make it seem like your own original concoction. We promise we won’t tell.

The aroma will have your mouth watering, but resist the urge to carve the bird right when it comes out of the oven. It worked hard in there for the past 75 minutes, so give it time to breathe and absorb the juices before you let them all leak out on the cutting board.

While the chicken’s cooking, you have plenty of time to spruce up sides like sauteed brussels sprouts or broccolini, mashed potatoes, or a crisp farm-fresh salad. It’s effortless, versatile, delicious, fulfilling, and a bunch of other impressive spelling bee vocabulary words.