Thursday, August 28, 2008

Butterflied Chicken


Sometimes its the journey not the destinaton, and that was the case for me with this recipe. This week's Barefoot Challenge was Butterflied Chicken, a tasty marinated bird that was boned and butterflied. Chosen by Stefany, from Proceed With Caution, this was a great choice for the group because it pushed everyone (or a lot of us) outside our comfort zones. You can check out what everyone else did here. I cook whole chickens often, so that was no problem, and I have butterflied a few in my time as well. But boning one? Never. (If you are a little squeamish maybe skip the next paragraph...)

So I took it slowly. First I cut down either side of the chicken's backbone with my poultry shears. Then I pressed the chicken flat to butterfly it. And then the tricky bit... I slowly worked my hands between the meat and the bones to remove the central bones, leaving behind the bones in the wings, and legs. I then halved the marinade ingredients for making only one chicken, and once marinated, I rolled the chicken up as directed to absorb the flavours all day in the fridge. All going well... but then I cheated, cooking it under the grill in the oven instead of on the BBQ (too cold tonight to be outside).

Apart from being pleased with my new-found boning skill, I really enjoyed the flavour and so did my husband but eldest darling daughter found it a bit too pungent and herby. I'm looking forward to leftovers tossed in a salad tomorrow. Thanks Stefany.


Butterflied Chicken
adapted from Ina Garten

1/8 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 2 sprigs
1 large garlic clove, chopped
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoons lemon juice
Good olive oil
1 roasting chicken, deboned and butterflied
1/4 lemon, thinly sliced

Mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.

Place the chicken on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the flesh with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each chicken. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens. Turn the chicken skin side down and scatter the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary over each chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roll each chicken up, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat a grill with coals. Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Unroll the chickens, place them on the grill and cook for 12 minutes on each side.

10 comments:

Prudy said...

Oh, you brave woman, good for you! I have deboned and butterflied and I really really did not enjoy it at all, so I sure didn't want to do it again. YOur chicken looks juicy and delicious.

Anonymous said...

Looks great! I can't believe it's too COLD to go outside...Not here in SC

NKP said...

Hero! You are the first I have come across who has de-doned her own chicken. Way to go!
Congrats to you and your yummy chicken.

Anonymous said...

Oh. My. I can't believe you did this all on your own. Glad you liked it! I would have been pretty upset if it didn't taste good after all that.
~The Cat's Pajamas

Deb in Hawaii said...

Oh you are brave! I admire that! I can roast a whole chicken with no problem but get squeemish cutting it up. It turned out well and Ina would be proud!

Anne said...

Way to go deboning your chicken- it looks wonderful!

Esi said...

Yours looks great! And good for you for doing it yourself!

Kirsten said...

At least one of use deboned the chicken herself! Yours turned out great.

Heather B said...

wow! Great job on the deboning! I was afraid to try it myself. Your chicken looks delicious!

webbie said...

It looks lovely! Allow me to to add my awe in the deboning! The good news is, it will warm enough to grill there before you know it.