Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Spatchcock Pastured Chicken

One of the drawbacks of getting our own chickens, if you could call it that, is being able to see how happy chickens are when they get to be real chickens. Grazing in the yard, eating bugs, flying around and chasing each other. We've spent countless hours just sitting out back watching the chickens do their thing. Needless to say, it didn't take long before we decided there was no way we could ever eat another factory farmed chicken. We needed to find chickens that lived a natural chicken life, not stuck in a square foot cage never seeing the light of day. Enter Noah Patridge and Emily French of New Roots Farms. We found them through craigslist and were so impressed we purchased 10 of their pastured chickens. It was almost overwhelming trying to decide how we should prepare the first one. Typically our whole chickens get roasted in the oven, but this was a particularly warm day so grilling was the method of choice. To shorten the cooking time we "Spatchcocked" the chicken before grilling.

Spatchcocking:
Step 1
1. Use kitchen shears to cut on both sides of the backbone and remove the spine
2. Leaving the chicken on its belly, turn it so that the drumsticks point away from you.
3. Cut through the piece of white cartilage just below the skin at the base of the breastbone, on the end of the chicken nearest you.
4. Grab the outside edges of the chicken and bend down while pushing up in the middle like you're trying to break the chicken in half. Bend until you hear it crack.
Step 5
5. Run your finger down both sides of the breastbone to loosen it from the skin and pull it out. Mine came out in two pieces.

You have now spatchcocked a chicken and are ready to cook it. First turn it over then rub it down with olive oil or melted butter. Then choose your seasonings. Through much trial and error we've found that something simple like lemon pepper and salt, or garlic salt and cajun seasoning is best.

On the grill
Prepare the grill for indirect cooking by lighting the outside burners but not the middle, or just the burner on one side if your grill has only two. If you have a charcoal grill I'm going to assume you know how to apply this method to your BBQ. Throw the chicken over the unlit burner and cook until done (use a meat thermometer in the thigh or breast. I pull the chicken off when the thigh reads 165F but am not responsible if you get sick! Check the internet if you need more info). Pull it off the grill and let it rest for at least 5 minutes, preferably 10, then cut apart.  The wings make a good snack while carving the rest of the chicken.The legs (thigh and drumstick combo) come off easily as one piece and make a good size dinner portion for one person. In our situation the breasts are usually reserved for leftovers to go on a salad or in another recipe like Alfredo or Peanut Sauce Stir Fry.


Almost done, I promise...side dish time. We call this Salty Garlicky Vegetables. In this case it was Salty Garlicky Bok Choy but just as often happens with regular cabbage or green beans (a favorite). It's easy and delicious.


Chop 1 head of Bok Choy into bite sized pieces
Heat 1-2T cooking fat of your choice in a skillet (I prefer bacon fat for this dish but ghee works just as well) on medium heat
Add the cabbage
Cook until 75% done
Add 1T minced garlic (more or less depending on your taste but the point of this is to be borderline too garlicky)
Add about 2T of Tamari (or soy sauce or coconut aminos depending on your diet choices, but again the point is to be borderline too salty)
Cook for a few minutes until some of the liquid has evaporated/thickened
Serve immediately


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