“My God, he looks like he’s beating a chicken.” Byron Nelson
Have you ever done aspatchcockona blessed chicken? A 40 garlic chicken recipe, ‘Roasted Butterflied Chicken’ at Pig Pig’s Corner, a delicious blog, had held my attention for a few days. Much inspired, and very brave in my own eyes, I bought a ‘whole‘ chicken, with the skin on the other day. A first for me! I am least comfortable handling non vegetarian raw material. In sheer fright, I stuffed the chicken into the freezer. Wasn’t geared up to handle it midweek with the kids all over the place. Last weekend I bravely ventured in ‘that’ direction, and then stared at the bird. UGH! 7am with a ‘skinny’ bird is no fun! …
… but first, I have something important to announce, & then back to the ‘Spatchcock’ story.
It’s the first Wednesday of September & I’m here to announce the 4 ingredients for Paper Chef. My dear friend Ilva, of the beautiful blog Lucillian Delights, featured on TIMES ONLINE as one of the 50 world’s best food blogs, asked me to be an ad hoc judge for this episode. Of course I’m delighted to do so.Paper Chef, an idea conceived by Owen of Tomatilla, was taken over by Ilva. It is a creative cooking competition that takes place every first whole weekend of the month. You can find information, dates, the current ingredient list, roundups and more here, and the rules & regulations here. I’ve chosen 3 regular ingredients – RICOTTA , DARK CHOCOLATE & GINGER…and I would like you to create a dish using these three, with any fourth ingredient that signifiesFALL (Autumn). Summer is behind us, & with the weather changing across the globe, I’d love to see the magic you work up with these.
You have until Tuesday noon (where you live) to send it to paperchef AT gmail DOT com. The roundup will be posted here and the winners will be announced first on the judges blog ( that’s me, he he) and then here. To quote Ilva, “Paper Chef is about being creative and discovering your non-limits in the kitchen, I promise that you will surprise yourself once you get going!”… OK, back to spatchcocking! Read a couple of tutorials and began to look for the ‘spine’. Hmmm, eventually took out a cleaver & pair of kitchen scissors, & removed what I believe was the spine & breast bone. SCARY! So many biology dissections later, so many meals later, I couldn’t tell the back from the front of a bird! Tweeted my agony & help was at hand. Robyn tweeted back… and then sent me a link too. By the time the hub woke up, he knew he was in trouble. One look at my face had him scurrying for cover. All well? I told him I killed a dead bird but we had to have it for lunch. A peep into the fridge later, and a ‘WOW‘ uttered by him seemed to make the world a better place again. OK! He stated the obvious! You had to remove the spine to flatten it obviously. Should have woken me up! Hmmmph! I did the best I could, but next time my friend the butcher shall be my spatchcocker!
In all that I found another recipe I had bookmarked for a whole chicken…chicken al mattone or chicken under a brick. Another yummy one, looked delicious. So, decided to get adventurous, and for lunch that day, chicken al mattone met the 40 garlic chicken. Delicious is the word … & disappeared very fast. Wasn’t sure if the kids would eat chicken with the skin on, so didn’t breathe a word. Didn’t have to. They wolfed it down. I tossed some potatoes in oil, vinegar & salt, and pushed them in the same pan alongside the chicken, placed a stone on the whole thing, and let it cook. Loved all the flavours that came through. Finished the chicken off on a hot grill pan over high flame for 5-7 minutes, drained the juices from the roasting pan, & let the potatoes finish off on the highest oven setting. Was a delicious meal; everything was polished off. Served it with a French Fougasse on the side, with a ricotta, walnut and Romesco filling. The ricotta is from a David Lebovitz recipe that I use often now, as soft cheese is my current obsession! It’s a simple recipe; you don’t need a candy thermometer, and ‘no fat yogurt’ works too.
40 GARLIC CHICKEN al MATTONE
adaptd from Roasted Butterflied Chicken @ PigPigsCorner
& Chicken al Mattone @ Bon Apetit Ingredients: 1 whole chicken with skin on,insides cleaned, about 1 kg 40 cloves of garlic, peeled, whole Juice of 3-4 limes; peels reserved Fresh Rosemary 8-10 sprigs, plus some for garnishing Salt, pepper, red chili flakes
Method: Spatchcock the chicken, ie remove the spine & breastbone so it can sit flat. Else ask the butcher to do it (which I will in future) 1st marinade : Juice of 2 limes, salt and pepper. Whisk together and rub well into chicken all over. Place in a flat dish, cling wrap & leave in fridge for an hour 2nd marinade: Mince 7 of the 40 garlic cloves, and whisk with 2 tbsps oil and 1 tbsp of finely chopped fresh rosemary. Again place, cling wrapped in fridge for 1-4 hours (You can even do this the previous night) Preheat the oven to 200C. Meanwhile heat a grill pan on high. Add a spoon of oil & place the chicken, skin side down, with a foil wrapped brick or heavy stone on top. Cook for 7-8 minutes till skin brown. Line a baking /roasting pan with foil and spread the remaining rosemary, garlic & lime peels over the base. Add any veggies you may wish to serve around the edges. Top with the foil wrapped brick, or heavy stone, and bake for 20-25 minutes. Take out pan, turn the chicken over, & bake for a further 15-20 minutes until juices run clear. Place the whole chicken skin side down on a hot grill pan to finish it off. Drain the juices, if any, from the roasting pan, and roast the potatoes and garlic on the highest oven setting till done. Serve the chicken in a flat dish, drizzled with a blend of olive oil, lime & chopped coriander/parsley/oregano, topped with fresh rosemary sprigs. Place the potatoes & garlic around. Serve with a bread and green salad.
