Recipe: Honey-Marinated Chicken with Grilled Fennel

Ingredients

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon fennel seeds, lightly crushed

About 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

11/2 pounds thinly sliced chicken cutlets

Freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large fennel bulb (about 11/4 pounds), halved lengthwise and cored and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Vegetable oil

Directions

In a shallow baking dish, mix the honey, Worcestershire sauce, fennel seeds and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.

Pat the chicken dry. Place the chicken between 2 sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap and, using your hand, a skillet or a rolling pin, gently flatten it to an even thickness of about 1/2 inch. Season the chicken with salt and pepper to taste, add it to the honey marinade and turn to coat. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes, turning once.

Place a large cast-iron grill pan or skillet over medium heat. Lightly brush the fennel slices with oil, season with salt and pepper to taste and arrange the fennel in the pan. Reduce the heat to low, cover loosely with foil and cook, turning once, until softened and lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the fennel to a platter.

Increase the heat to medium. Transfer the chicken to the pan, discarding the marinade. Cook, turning once, until golden and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side. (May need to reduce the heat if the cutlets begin to brown too quickly.)

Notes

From "Food & Wine Annual Cookbook: An Entire Year of Recipes 2003" (American Express, 2003).