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johnc
Senior Member
Username: johnc
Post Number: 763
Registered: 12-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 10:29 am: | 
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Spatchcocked Chicken with Fingerling Potatoes, Pan-Tossed Asparagus & Roasted-Lemon Yogurt
By bettinastern Created 02/11/2008 - 11:52am
"Adapted from Jamie Oliver's Cook with Jamie , this is an ideal Sunday night supper for friends and family. We like to double the recipe so that there are leftovers for weekday lunch or [a] healthy twist on pot pie." Serves 4
For Marinade:
Several sprigs of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
Juice of 1 lemon
Good olive oil
Everything Else:
1 farm-fresh, free range, or organic chicken, about 3 1/2 lbs.
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 lemons
1 1/2-2 lbs. fingerling or new potatoes, well scrubbed
Heaping Tbls. butter, unsalted
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed of the woody bottoms
1 1/2 c. Greek yogurt [4]
a handful of fresh, soft, fragrant herb leaves (mint, parsley, or tarragon make good choices)
Spatchcock the chicken: using a pair of kitchen or poultry shears, cut out the backbone of the bird so that you can open it up and press it flat. (Note: Using primarily your fingers, with a little help from a filet or boning knife, also remove the rib cage and the keel bone.)
In a shallow bowl or glass pan, mix together the marjoram or oregano, (Note: I used oregano only, the first time.) the juice from one lemon, and a "glug" of olive oil. Rub this mixture all over the bird, both sides, and leave the chicken to marinate breast side down, for at least 30 minutes and no more than a couple of hours in the fridge. If you let it marinate for longer, the lemon juice will "cook" the meat for you. (Note: There are different schools of thought on how long to marinate poultry in a citrus/acidic solution. Some recipes say "for at least an hour" others "overnight." I think that an hour or two is about right.)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large cast-iron pan, season the chicken with salt and pepper and place, skin side down, in the pan. Sear for about 4 minutes (the chicken should start to crisp), then turn the bird over, add a whole lemon to pan, and then put the pan and bird into the preheated oven.
While the chicken is cooking, place potatoes in a saucepan of cold, salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until tender. Drain. Place potatoes back in pan with butter, a squeeze of lemon, and season with salt and pepper. Cover to keep warm.
The chicken should take about 45-55 minutes to cook, depending on size. (Note: My chicken seemed completely done in about 40 min. but I used an instant read thermometer to be sure. It was done.) To test if it's ready, simply take a gentle tug on the leg. If it pulls away easily it's done; if not, pop back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Remove from oven, set whole lemon aside and place chicken on serving platter to rest for 5 minutes, before cutting into serving pieces.
Pour excess fat out of pan and put asparagus into it. Cook on high for about 3-1/2 minutes, until tender. When they're done, toss them with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Pile them onto the chicken platter along with the potatoes. Scatter your soft herbs on top.
Halve the roasted lemon and, in a separate small serving bowl, mix the juice with the yogurt. Serve this delicious dinner and enjoy!
Published on Loulies (http://www.loulies.com)
Link to the page:
http://www.loulies.com/spatchcocked_chicken_with_fingerling_potatoes_pan-tossed_asparagus_roast_lemon_yogurt
Not "organic" (but not made out of rocks either). Somehow, I doubt that it was "free-range" . . . Pilgrims may have "Pride" but they were notorious, stodgy, control freaks. The other alternative, Tyson (not Mike) is not noted for its love of liberty--vis-a-vis poultry--either. See the potatoes in the little net bag? They are sort of pricy, but well worth it. (As are the little "variety" packages of potatoes from the same company [Melissa's]).
The initial searing. 5 min. or so seemed about right.
The green stuff is oregano. Fresh, "organic" oregano. Maybe with some parsley. Possibly "free-range" parsley. I don't remember.
Flipped and ready to go into the oven.
Inexpensive, Easy, Fast and Tasty.
What more could a person ask?
The next time I made this, except for the chicken, I just used what we had on hand. I used a much larger, oven safe (but not cast iron) fry pan and tossed in some sliced red bell peppers, a quarted red onion, some garlic cloves and some small, halved, Yukon Gold potatoes. I was going to toss in some left-over grape tomatoes, but I forgot to. I didn't have any fresh herbs. So, in addition to the salt and pepper I gave the bird a healthy sprinkle of Herbs de Provence (a.k.a. "Fines Herbes") It was marvelous. Again.
I'm working on a Tex-Mex, hybrid, version of this involving stuff like Tomatillo/Corn Salsa and Yellow Rice on the side.
I'll probably try it tomorrow and keep you posted on the results.
I'm looking forward to when the weather warms up so I can try doing this on the charcoal grill.
BTW: Photos were taken with an old--yet nearly new--35mm. camera. Sorry about the "greenish" quality of the lighting in the first photo. I'm still learning how to use it. The camera. Not the lighting. Well, the lighting too. =) |
renée
Senior Member
Username: renée
Post Number: 4045
Registered: 6-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - 10:49 am: |
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I'll give that a try sometime soon. I can smell it from here ..... well, almost! Yes, lighting can be a problem. My dad used to have floodlights for indoor photography many years ago. |
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