Chicken with Fennel and Rosemary

I decided that I wanted to try a new recipe this weekend since it seems like all we eat is leftovers during the week (which is great but still I want something new). So I went to my new Food & Wine Chicken cookbook and since I had marked about 30 recipes to try, I just had to pick one. And I decided to be adventurous and use a new ingredient...fennel. You may ask how did I go this long without eating fennel? I have no idea. But now that we've cooked with it, we'll be trying it again. I always see them on cooking shows talk about the licoriceness of it. And it certainly smelled like it when we cut it. Wow.

The recipe overall had too much rosemary in it for me. Also our chicken breasts were super thick (maybe we have super chickens in Oklahoma) so they were a little dry. We also didn't use parsley because we don't like it. We served it with some mashed potatoes. But overall I'm glad we tried fennel so I guess that is the positive from the recipe.

Sauteed Chicken Breasts with Fennel and Rosemary
by Food and Wine Magazine

Finished product and yes that is just half a chicken breast

1. 2 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1 large fennel bulb (about 1 1/4 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch slices
3. 2 teaspoons dried rosemary, crumbled
4. 1/2 teaspoon salt
5. 1/2 cup canned low-sodium chicken broth or homemade stock
6. 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 1/3 pounds in all)
7. 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
8. 2 cloves garlic, minced
9. 2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1. In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the fennel, 1 teaspoon of the rosemary, and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the fennel is golden brown and almost done, about 12 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer until the fennel is tender, about 3 minutes. Remove the fennel and the cooking liquid from the pan.
2. Wipe out the pan and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil over moderate heat. Season the chicken with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon of the pepper. Add the chicken to the pan with the remaining 1 teaspoon of rosemary and cook until brown, about 5 minutes. Turn and cook until almost done, about 3 minutes longer. Add the garlic; cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the fennel and its cooking liquid and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cover the pan and remove from the heat. Let steam 5 minutes. Stir in the parsley.