What's on the Grill #174: Spatchcocked Herb Chicken
Ash Cloud be damned! After two flights, a taxi, and a ride on the catamaran, I've made my way to the Isle of Wight.
Besides getting caught up with Zoe and her family, I also ran into a new friend: Lil' Mike!
Zoe's Dad, Bob, is a true craftsman. After being forced to study several photographs of me, and having a general idea of my interests, he created this 18 inch tall characterture. At least I want to believe it's a characterture. I have a feeling others will few it more as a self portrait. Regardless, it is really neat and I can't wait to get it home.
After a quick run to Tesco's, (the grocery), and a short nap, Bob and I fired up his Performer. He keeps his grill so clean, it almost looks the same as when I first used it with him three years ago.
I am going to duplicate one hack Bob made to his chimney starter. He added chicken wire to the inside grate to keep the lump wood charcoal from falling through. Unlike briquettes, lump wood comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, often smaller than the grate spaces. I have often thought of this predicament, but never even thought about a solution. Think no more, I'm taking Bob's idea!
To keep dinner moving quick, we opted to spatchcock a chicken, versus grilling it whole. The hardest part about getting a chicken over here, is staring at the shins they leave attached to the legs. It's a little disturbing.
To spatchcock the chicken, remove the backbone by cutting down both sides of spine with poultry scissors. Once removed, flip the chicken over and press down until you snap the breast bone. This chilling maneuver should allow the chicken to flatten out. By spatchcocking you are exposing more of chicken's surface area to heat, and allowing for a faster cook.
We placed skewers through the chicken to keep it flat and seasoned both sides with olive oil, thyme, tarragon, sea salt, and pepper.
Prep the grill for indirect medium with all of your coals to only one side. Once up to temp, place the chicken skin side down directly over the coals for about 10 minutes. Then, flip the chicken and cook the "inside" for an additional 10 minutes. Be sure to watch for flare-ups, as the oil and skin can burn easily. With both sides browned, move the chicken to indirect to cook an additional 25-30 minutes or until done.
Easy grilled sides included asparagus wrapped with parma and carrots with a butter nutmeg/cinnamon glaze. However, the most important side was a bottle of Goddard's Brewery Duck's Folly. Goddard's is a local brewery literally a stone's throw from Bob & Wendy's.
Duck's Folley a great ale. It has a full sweet malt taste with a real surprising hop finish. I like it, a lot.
A great easy meal, for a kick-off to a great two weeks in England. Now to go hang out with my little friend and see how his dinner is going.
Besides getting caught up with Zoe and her family, I also ran into a new friend: Lil' Mike!
Zoe's Dad, Bob, is a true craftsman. After being forced to study several photographs of me, and having a general idea of my interests, he created this 18 inch tall characterture. At least I want to believe it's a characterture. I have a feeling others will few it more as a self portrait. Regardless, it is really neat and I can't wait to get it home.
After a quick run to Tesco's, (the grocery), and a short nap, Bob and I fired up his Performer. He keeps his grill so clean, it almost looks the same as when I first used it with him three years ago.
I am going to duplicate one hack Bob made to his chimney starter. He added chicken wire to the inside grate to keep the lump wood charcoal from falling through. Unlike briquettes, lump wood comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes, often smaller than the grate spaces. I have often thought of this predicament, but never even thought about a solution. Think no more, I'm taking Bob's idea!
To keep dinner moving quick, we opted to spatchcock a chicken, versus grilling it whole. The hardest part about getting a chicken over here, is staring at the shins they leave attached to the legs. It's a little disturbing.
To spatchcock the chicken, remove the backbone by cutting down both sides of spine with poultry scissors. Once removed, flip the chicken over and press down until you snap the breast bone. This chilling maneuver should allow the chicken to flatten out. By spatchcocking you are exposing more of chicken's surface area to heat, and allowing for a faster cook.
We placed skewers through the chicken to keep it flat and seasoned both sides with olive oil, thyme, tarragon, sea salt, and pepper.
Prep the grill for indirect medium with all of your coals to only one side. Once up to temp, place the chicken skin side down directly over the coals for about 10 minutes. Then, flip the chicken and cook the "inside" for an additional 10 minutes. Be sure to watch for flare-ups, as the oil and skin can burn easily. With both sides browned, move the chicken to indirect to cook an additional 25-30 minutes or until done.
Easy grilled sides included asparagus wrapped with parma and carrots with a butter nutmeg/cinnamon glaze. However, the most important side was a bottle of Goddard's Brewery Duck's Folly. Goddard's is a local brewery literally a stone's throw from Bob & Wendy's.
Duck's Folley a great ale. It has a full sweet malt taste with a real surprising hop finish. I like it, a lot.
A great easy meal, for a kick-off to a great two weeks in England. Now to go hang out with my little friend and see how his dinner is going.
Mike Lang