So the perfect grilled chicken for me should be crispy and golden brown on the outside and the white meat must be juicy and tender and well-cooked.
When grilling chicken pieces, it is easier to get to that state of "perfection", but with a whole bird it is just not possible to cook all the pieces of the chicken evenly, unless of course you.......
Spatchcock or Butterfly the Chicken.
To butterfly a chicken you ensure that:
- your chicken cooks evenly
- your chicken cooks faster
- and the marinade gets to all the areas of the chicken.
How to butterfly a chicken?
Lay you chicken flat, breast-side down on a wooden board and cut out the backbone with a sharp kitchen scissors. Remove the back bone and turn the chicken so that the breast side is up. Press firmly on the chicken to flatten it.
I do mine somewhat different, because my husband likes the pope's nose and with the first method, you lose that delicacy. So I simply place my chicken on a wooden board, breast side up and with a sharp knife, cut down the middle of the chicken. Now turn the chicken over and flatten .Tie the legs together with some string.
For my Spicy marinade, I use...
Ingredients
3 cloves garlic
1-2 chillies
zest of 2 lemons
2cm piece ginger- peeled
1-2tbsp fennel seeds
1 heaped tbsp brown sugar
fresh thyme
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper( don't be shy here)
Preheat oven to 200C
Season the chicken well inside and out and give it a good massage with some olive oil. In a mortar and pestle add all marinade ingredients, except the olive oil and the lemon juice. Bash until everything is fine enough to rub all over the chicken. Inside and out. Drizzle some more oil and lemon juice over the top and place on a roasting rack in the BBQ outside or in the oven.
The other important thing when grilling is to constantly baste the chicken with the dripping sauces. After about 45 min, the chicken is cooked, but I turn the oven down to 170C and then let the chicken just slowly cook right through. Served with boiled new potatoes, a salad, potato bake...really anything you fancy, because all attention will be on this perfectly grilled chicken!
16 comments:
I can't think if I've ever had a whole grilled chicken. I usually stick with breasts.
Look delicious and pretty tempting with that red chiles.
That skin looks perfectly crisp. I'd love to try my hand at that marinade; I'm all about heat.
This is one of the best chicken I have seen in a while. Full of flavors.
I still haven't spatchcocked a chicken yet - thanks for inspiring me to do so. This chicken looks and sounds AMAZING!
Love a moist grilled chicken and this sounds fabulous with the fennel seeds and ginger.
Sam
This is my favourite way to barbecue a whole bird Nina...love the rub you are using as well.
Hubby would just die for this bird! He's like you, no pink and crisp a must. Thanks for sharing.
that girl - this way you get perfect breasts and crispy other bits!!
elra- oh yes, slowly but surely getting the family used to more heat!!
mike - I think for you this will be mild, but you can always adjust the heat!
helene - thanks dear friend!!
pam - somehow I think you will give this a Mexican twist which could be very interesting.
my carolina kitchen - the fennel seeds become lovely and crunchy during grilling, adding a lot of texture to the already crispy skin!!!
val - aaaah, so you know about this pleasure then!!
redcathy - well, hubs will not be disappointed!
I love this idea of butterfly the chicken for grilling!! The marinate you made sounds really good. I have a whole chicken in my fridge, so, I will make this for Sunday roast! :)
I'm convinced that spatchcocking a chicken is best for grilling. Your spicy marinade sounds great!
Oh! This chicken looks so tasty, with all the spice on it. Yummie! Great picture as well :-)
All I can say is yum, yum, yum. I can't wait to fire up the old braai and try out this recipe, Nina. I just love barbequed, spicy chicken, and I completely agree that chicken needs to be properly cooked, with no yucky pink bits.
I should really try spatchcocking (not sure if it should be used as a verb) my chicken. I tend to need to put my full chickens back into the oven to finish cooking to dark meat.
Thanks fr the spatchcock tips - you don't get chicen flatties in the supermarkets here like in SA ;-) And aaaah, the Pope's nose - when last did I hear that expression?? It was usually my dad's prerogative at Sunday lunch, although sometimes he'd let me or my brother have it.
need to try it out!!!
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