Roast Chicken with Five-Spice Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon pepper black divided
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 3 inch cinnamon sticks 
• 0.5 cup apricot dried chopped
• 1 medium fennel bulb with stalks
• 8  garlic divided crushed
• 4  lemon wedges 
• 1 cup beef broth 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 1  onion vertically sliced
• 2  orange zest 
• 2 cups red wine red
• 6 pound roasting chickens whole
• 0.8 teaspoon salt divided
• 1  star anise 
• 12  thyme leaves divided

Equipment

• frying pan
• oven
• roasting pan
• kitchen thermometer
• ziploc bags
• kitchen twine

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 45
2. Discard giblets and neck from chicken. Trim tough outer leaves from fennel; mince feathery fronds to measure 2 tablespoons.
3. Remove and discard stalks.
4. Cut bulb into quarters.
5. Place 1 fennel quarter, 6 thyme sprigs, 4 garlic cloves, lemon wedges, 1/2 cinnamon stick, and whole clove in body cavity.
6. Combine fennel fronds, oil, 3/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks. Rub salt mixture under skin. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken. Tie legs together with twine.
7. Place chicken on the rack of a roasting pan. Arrange remaining 4 garlic cloves, remaining fennel quarters, and onion in bottom of roasting pan; place rack with chicken in pan.
8. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes.
9. Reduce oven temperature to 37
10. Add remaining 6 thyme sprigs, remaining cinnamon stick half, wine, broth, orange rind, and star anise to bottom of pan; baste chicken.
11. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes; baste chicken.
12. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until a thermometer inserted in the meaty part of thigh registers 16
13. Remove from oven; let stand 20 minutes.
14. Place a zip-top plastic bag inside a 2-cup glass measure.
15. Pour drippings into bag; let stand 5 minutes (fat will rise). Seal bag; snip off 1 bottom corner of bag.
16. Drain drippings into roasting pan, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Cook over medium heat, scraping pan to loosen browned bits, until reduced to 1 1/4 cups.
17. Remove from heat, and stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, apricots, and butter.
18. Serve sauce with chicken; discard skin before serving.