Rice 1. To make Coconut Milk either grate 1/2 fresh coconut into a bowl. Pour over 1 pint of boiling water. Leave to infuse until cool. Squeeze flesh to extract liquid. Strain before use. 2. Or - using desiccated coconut - put 85g into saucepan. Pour over 1 pint cold water. Bring to boil and simmer for 4 - 5 minutes. Leave to infuse & cool until lukewarm. Strain through a fine sieve, straining it as dry as you can. This will keep in the refrigerator for only a day or so - dont make it in large quantities. 3. Peel and finely chop onion. Crush garlic. Place in pan with oil and cook gently until softened but not coloured. 4. Stir in rice, lemon zest and salt and add hot coconut milk gradually. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes until just cooked through. Keep hot. 5. Just before serving, roll basil leaves into cigar shapes and shred finely (a chiffonade). Stir basil into hot rice at the last minute for the heady perfume to have maximum effect. Sweet Roasted Fennel 6. Preheat oven to 220?c / 450F / Gas Mark 8. 7. Trim outer leaves, top and bottom of fennel. Cut in half vertically. 8. Part boil fennel in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain well. 9. Spread with softened butter and sprinkle with sugar. 10. Put into roasting tin in hot oven for about 8 - 10 minutes until cooked and golden brown. You can increase the bitter sweet charred effect by either heating a skillet or griddle very hot chargriddle the fennel, or by charring with a blow torch. Either works equally well. Roast Chicken Breast 11. Make slashes in the skin of the chicken. Cut the bulb of garlic in half horizontally and rub the cut edges all over the chicken. 12. Grind 1 star anise in a spice grinder or a pestle and mortar and rub that all over the chicken. 13. Lift the fillet of each breast and tuck in a fennel frond and a few chopped chives. Season. 14. Heat a skillet or cast pan. Add 1 tbsp cornoil and sear the breasts on all sides. 15. Put into roasting tin, tuck the cut garlic underneath and roast breasts in a hot oven for about 12 - 15 minutes until firm and cooked but still moist. The juices will run clear - if you lift the fillet there will be no sign of pink. Rest in a warm place for 5 minutes before serving. The fennel can cook at the same time. 16. Meanwhile, cook the sauce. 17. Into a wide shallow pan pour the chicken stock, saffron and star continued in part 2