Perfectly Seasoned
The podcast about all things culinary.
Perfectly Seasoned
S3 E31 Spatchcock Chicken with Citrus and Honey
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A sweet and savory sheet pan chicken dinner.
Hello and welcome to Perfectly Seasoned, the podcast about all things culinary. I'm your personal chef, Greg Strom, and today on Perfectly Seasoned, have you ever spatchcocked a chicken? What is it? Well, stay tuned to find out! Well, hello everyone, and welcome to Perfectly Seasoned. And today we are making spatchcocked chicken with citrus and honey from a Mediterranean dish. And the term spatchcock is from English in Ireland, and it dates to mid to late 18th century. And all it is is a process to make the chicken level so that all of the meat cooks equally. And it's done by removing just the backbone, flipping the chicken over, pressing the backbone to snap it so that it opens up, and that way it it uh leaves the chicken, all of the meat on the same level so that it cooks evenly. You can either do it on an open fire or you can also do it in the oven. And this all it does is really cut the cooking time down by well, in some cases about half, depending on the size of the chicken. So joining me today from Lake Worth, Florida, to discuss this recipe that I talked him into doing uh is my good friend Scott Simmons. And Scott, welcome. This is your first time on Perfectly Seasoned.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Yes.
SPEAKER_00What is your experience with spatchcocking? Do you use it a lot?
SPEAKER_01I do. It uh I I have a Weber charcoal grill and enjoy I began using it during the pandemic when we were doing some any entertaining we were doing was outdoors. So it just sort of fit with the mood of that. I I liked dropping the wood chips in and having the hickory or cherry scented smoke infusing the meat as it uh cooked. And it it it's the only thing that I've noticed, I I sometimes just leave the backbone on and I just split it and put it on the fire, and that way I have that extra fat to render and the extra bit of meat there near the ribs. Uh, in the case of this particular dish that we prepared, I did take the backbone out and I froze it because it is great to use for stock.
SPEAKER_00Nothing gets wasted if you uh uh if you spatch cock a chicken. What what did you uh think of this recipe?
SPEAKER_01I I enjoyed it. Uh I enjoyed making the mix and the marinade and lots of nice citrus notes. Uh, use some local honey in it, fresh thyme, well, f uh a fresh jar of thyme and uh and oregano. So you you have all of those components going those aromatics, and it uh was just a little it was a little intoxicating each time you opened the oven. Well too based it.
SPEAKER_00What did you think of the the the marinade?
SPEAKER_01I thought the marinade was great because it did keep a nice level, a nice head of steam in there going. And in fact, each time I checked on it, the marinade was bubbling because you do cook it at 400 degrees. So that also beautifully cooked the potatoes that accompanied. I used Yukon Golds for this one because I knew they they they have a they have a sort of a buttery flavor of their own to add to whatever sauce is rendering there. It it cooked them down nicely and they were smalty uh from the chicken fat. So it it was it was just a very good the chicken itself, of course. Obviously, you cook it on its on its back or I mean inner city. So the the idea being that everything cooks evenly, but breast meat still sometimes has a tendency to get dry, and I offset that by lifting the skin slightly and pouring that marinade down between the meat and the skin uh when I threw it in the oven.
SPEAKER_00I did like that step as well, and I thought it really did help keep the breast nice and moist, and it was not really a strong uh flavor. Everything was very subtle, I thought. And I liked the the use of the clementine uh because of the it the slight um uh tartness of it combined with the sweetness of the orange juice. I thought it really was a nice um combination and the marinade itself, I would I would use that marinade on some on other other fowl. I would like to try this on a turkey, actually, or quail, or I think it's just a very nice marinade.
SPEAKER_01Well, particularly if you have something like uh quail that has a gamey quality, you those citrus notes uh tend to elevate it a little bit, I think. I I I think they they just uh they provide a little counterpoint, a punch to that gamey consistency of flavor.
SPEAKER_00I think I'm this is going to be added to my rotation as of of marinades for for fowl because it was very nice and subtle, and I like the amount of dried herbs. I didn't think they were too much.
SPEAKER_01And the I I think the salt tends to balance things too. I mean, that was the one thing that it kept throughout salt and pepper, uh, kosher salt. I think the uh salt tends to balance flavors sometimes. Um, you know, it'll bring down sweetness, it'll uh mitigate if something is too tart or too sour, it can offset bitterness sometimes. So I I think it's the great equalizer in a recipe such as this. The one thing I did notice, and and I'll read so you've been in my kitchen, so the the lighting is not always the best. So I temped the thing, and it was uh around 160 uh or so. I took it out and tanned it, put it on the stove, let it sit there while I did the rest of my meal, and then I came back to it and started to slice the leg and the juices ran red. I mean, like I thought it was bud, but now I think it may have been marinade.
SPEAKER_00Could have been yeah. Well, you know, you really can't go wrong. You said the magic word for me, and that is meat thermometer. If you when you when you if it's 160, 160 is 160, no matter how you slice it. But the first time I I I've done this dish now twice, and the first time I found that 160 might have been just a little under. So the next time I did it, I brought it up just just five degrees. I just brought it up to 165 because as you know, it once you tent it, it continues to cook for about 10 to 15 minutes. And it actually overcooking. Right, it actually brought the temperature up to me to for me to be the perfect temperature the way I like to eat chicken.
SPEAKER_01Well, as it turned out, so uh I did that. I I cut the uh the leg off and the thigh, and I just uh put them back in place and threw it back in the oven. And uh the uh because I not turned the oven off, so it the sauce started bubbling pretty quickly. I mean, you know, it's sitting in boiling honey and uh citrus juice.
SPEAKER_00So it finishes off very quickly by doing that. So that that's kind of another little hack I would suggest to people. If instead of putting the whole chicken back in, if you cut it, separate the parts, and then put it back in just for a few minutes, uh you pretty much will be able to bring it up to the temperature that is satisfactory. So, but there again, it's it's the meat thermometer, is I think it's the clue. I have to ask you, what did you serve as a side for this?
SPEAKER_01No, I so what I did is I did a starter dish of avocado soup, and the which is uh it's an old recipe. I have it in my Aunt Cleo's recipe box, and cup and half of buttermilk. I used a giant Florida avocado, and my avocado was a little underripe, but uh I knew I would be pureeing it in the blender. So then out of the buttermilk, chicken broth, cumin, and uh I can't think of the name of my my powder, chili chili powder, and so it gave it a o'cayen pepper, that's what I'm trying to say. And that gave it gives it a little heat. You do that in the blender, put it in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours. I serve it in a bowl, uh a flat soup plate soup bowl, and put a dollop of salsa on it. I've also had it with crab meat on it. One of my guests last night doesn't eat uh seafood, so uh I didn't do the crab, but uh the crab is a nice touch on it. But say just a dollop of salsa on it, tomato salsa is really great.
SPEAKER_00I served it a side of green beans, and that was it. Just just plain ordinary old-fashioned steamed green beans. It was very nice. There it doesn't really need anything else because it's basically a meal meal on a pan, so it it really, you know, a one-pan meal. Yes, and of course I had to have hot, fresh sourdough bread. I was afraid there wasn't going to be enough juice to to dip, but there was. I thought I was so quite surprised that the it didn't evaporate, so much of it didn't evaporate. So that was a that was a bonus for me.
SPEAKER_01I had quite a bit that I poured off at the end. In fact, it was extremely juicy. This uh chicken I got. Usually I buy it if I buy one at Publix, I get a green mouse. And I'm not really sure what this was. It wasn't the usual Publix one, but it came with everything giblets and uh et cetera, et cetera. And it it was very moist. It didn't seem like it had been injected with anything, but uh it it certainly was one on steroids, it was uh six and a half pounds, I think.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow, that's that's a big bird. That that sounds almost like a capon.
SPEAKER_01It said it was a hen though, so it wasn't a capon.
SPEAKER_00Wow, well, yeah, okay. Well, who knows these days? It could be either. Okay, enough politics. On a scale of one to five forks, what how would you rate this?
SPEAKER_01I I would I would do four and a half to five.
SPEAKER_00Okay, okay. And is there any particular reason was there anything easier or not as easy as you uh as you would like, or was there anything you would change?
SPEAKER_01It was very easy. It was almost foolproof. I mean, literally, I I did all my ingredients and missed them with a fork and got a large tablespoon out after prying the skin up and literally just ladled the stood it on end and ladled the juices down the uh bird so the the marinade so that it would get that citrus and get the herb.
SPEAKER_00Let me ask you, when you finished with the putting the uh marinade on, did you drizzle some of it over the potatoes? I did.
SPEAKER_01I had I poured it, I poured it over everything, and the the potatoes uh I say cooked down nicely. I took it, pulled it out of the oven three times, I think, to baste it. And unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the final product, but the uh skin was beautifully brown and crispy.
SPEAKER_00The one thing that I really, really liked, and that was I loved the potatoes, honestly, almost more than the chicken, because first of all, I love potatoes, but that marinade uh over those potatoes while you were baking it, they gave them a really, really nice, almost a crust. And and I thought that was just they were amazing. And I think the next time I'm gonna add a few more potatoes because I don't know if it would be herb overload.
SPEAKER_01I would almost be tempted to throw a couple sprigs of rosemary in the pan just because that is so good with the potatoes and the aroma of it. Roasting, I think, also would be a really nice way to greet guests at the door.
SPEAKER_00Well, one of my major rules, in fact, it's the only rule that I have in this process when I have home cooks, guests, guest home cooks, and that is the first question I ask is Did you follow the recipe as written and as instructed? The only reason that I say that is because I have a number of guests who might not have ever cooked before and they don't understand the reason for following a recipe to the letter the first time you do it. And it's only gives you a baseline. It doesn't mean that it is right or wrong, it just gives you a baseline so that you, uh as the person who is preparing it, can just say, Well, you know, the next time I do this, I want to do this because this is what I like. Or the next time I don't want to put that much salt on it, or I need but you have to start somewhere, and that's why I always insist my only rule on the podcast is you must follow the recipe to the letter. So, so this is one of those recipes that I think if you follow it the first time and you want to do something like add different fresh herbs or different type of potatoes, or maybe even add some roast some Brussels sprouts or something with it on since it is a one-sheet dinner. I think it the possibilities are endless, but only after you follow the recipe as written, so you know what you what your baseline is.
SPEAKER_01Exactly. You know, I was tempted to get asparagus to serve on the side of it, frankly. Uh but the ones that I saw at the store here were and I was at the produce market as well as at the supermarket, were all kind of woody looking. So I passed on that.
SPEAKER_00I think this is a bad time of the year for asparagus. I have uh recently I think the asparagus is really sucked. It's really not good. It's either too sterile or too woody. So I yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it wasn't very nice.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I've I've stayed away from asparagus for a while because of that. But yeah, that's why the green beans were good. In fact, I'd even I would even contend that I would put the green beans on the pan while the you know, like 30 minutes before the chicken is done, I'd probably throw the the green beans on so they don't get overdone. That's the beauty, first of all, of a one-pan meal is there really are no rules other than if you follow the recipe the first time to see what it should be like, you can make those other changes on your own. And I I always recommend that to people. What kind of a wine did you serve with it?
SPEAKER_01Oh well, I used a uh uh just a proseco. You need something bright with that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's well the because of the citrus, the acidity, uh, I used uh a Spanish, it's called an Alberino. We have just of late really gotten into Spanish wine because Cynthia Tosh, our resident Somalier, she's going to be coming up in the next segment called Wine O'Clock. I'm curious to see what she's gonna, if she's gonna shoot me down or if she's going to what she's gonna come up with. But Scott, I I I hope I hope we can do this again in the future because I always enjoy, I always enjoy spending time with you. And Tim and I we haven't seen you for so long. It's about time that we get together for a meal. So we'll have to plan that in the near future. But thank you so much for joining me today on Perfectly Season. And let's turn it over to Cynthia and hear whether she's gonna shoot us down or not. Thanks a lot, Scott.
SPEAKER_01Thank you. Take care.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Hello again, Cynthia. Welcome back. It's your turn. Hello. Well, this recipe. Yes, well, this recipe was really a big success and a big hit. The ingredients on this one were really it's sweet and savory at the same time because of the herbs and also the you're using the uh citrus on this. You're using the uh uh tartness of the clementine against the sweetness of the orange, and it is re and the the spices are rosemary and I think it's oregano, is the other spice. And it makes an incredible, incredible marinade that can be used on other poultry. So there you go, you're up.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so this dish is incredibly versatile with wine pairings. So I picked a white specifically and I picked a red specifically, but then I'm gonna tell you why some other wines might work and why. So you have a wide range to choose from. So the first, the white that I chose specifically is pickpool. Or pickpool de pine. Yes. So this is an old French grape that you know it had its moment a few years ago. It was very, very, very popular everywhere. And pickpool means stings the lip and makes lip zapping white wines very high in acidity, which is great for this dish. You know, it goes well with seafood and sushi just as well as this smash cock chicken. It has notes of green apple, lemon, thyme, citrus blossom. Really one of my favorite, favorite summertime white wines.
SPEAKER_00Is it also just good as a daily cocktail wine?
SPEAKER_02You know, like one salt does both. You know, you want an ice cold, it's very inexpensive, you know, and you drink it young within one one to three years of getting it. But really, really delicious.
SPEAKER_00Well, here's a question for you when you mention the age, do most white wines not age well?
SPEAKER_02Well, I see, yeah. So it it gets complicated. So there are a lot of white wines, a lot of varieties that can age well, but it depends on the variety, it depends on the acidity level, it depends on the winemaker's style, you know, a lot of wines that are, for example, Pinot Grigio, you normally drink very young. You don't see aged Pinot Grigios very often, just by the nature of the grape, right? But you see hundreds of producers that make Chardonnay that's ageable. That's due to just the structure of the grape, the style of that wine, and what Chardonnay can do. Those are two examples. I have had older Sauvignon Blancs. Usually they're blended with a little bit of semillon, not aged super long, like you could age a Chardonnay, but I've had some Sauvignon Blancs at work. I've had a few older roses, which normally you drink those very, very young, but you know, I've had a three or four-year-old rose and it was still drinking nicely. So it really kind of the answer is not clear. It depends, I think, on the producer, the style, where it's from, many things.
SPEAKER_00Well, it you had mentioned rose, like a you've had uh like a four-year-old. Is four years old, four years old old for a white wine? I mean, normally like that like or for a rose?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I would say so. Like, you know, uh if someone brought over a 2020, you know, Grigio to my house or something, I'd be like, oh thank you. And I might not open it.
SPEAKER_00Or use it for salad dressing.
SPEAKER_02Use it for salad, yeah, perhaps. And then it you know, of course, it also depends on has it been stored properly. But sometimes even if a grape, if it's meant to be drunk young. Drink it young. Drink it while it's fresh and zippy because the acidity can fall off, the flavors will fall off. You know, it's just not going to be the way the winemaker intended it to be. So if you're ever unsure, you know, with a wine, that's what the internet is great for. You can always ask the internet and they will tell you what to do. Or your local wine merchant, someone that you trust will be able to help you out as well. But with Pickpool, you buy it, you get it really nice and cold, and you drink it quickly.
SPEAKER_00Well, that it sounds that we'll have to we'll have to give that a shot. You know, we're running out of wine fridge space here because of you.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna have to come over and help you out.
SPEAKER_00So we love that. So, okay, well, once again, uh you're an interview. Oh, yes, I do. Yes, yes, sorry.
SPEAKER_02No, no, we're getting all excited. Okay, so the red pairing would be a Rhone GSM blend. So GSM stands for Grenache Syrah Mouvedra. And these three grapes create the base of southern France and northern Spain's really most important red wine blends. So if you see a GSM blend, Grenache Syrah Mouvedra, it really is so versatile. It works particularly well with Mediterranean style dishes, obviously, spices, sage, rosemary, olives, has raspberry, blackberry, a little bit of lavender. This is one you can sell her for five to 15 years. And sometimes you might see, you know, maybe it has, it could include other grapes as well. Um, but the predominant is Grenache Saramu Vendra. So with that rosemary coming through, that would be a really, a really good pairing. But as I mentioned, you know, this dish lends itself to a lot. You could do a an off-dry riesling, so that will balance the sweet and the sour can handle the lemon, a savon blanc. The sharp acidity can cut through the fat of the chicken and match the brightness of a lemon. Sauvignon blanc would be great. A lightly oaked citrus forward Chardonnay would be a great balance. You could even do a pinot noir, maybe from the Willamette, you know, that that would also work with this this dish. Or a proven solet, you know, an herb-heavy citrusy roast chicken with a nice pale pink beautiful rose can work. So really look in your wine fridge, pick a bottle, and try it out.
SPEAKER_00Well, we have we we have a lot to choose from because of you. So it's your fault. It's all your fault.
SPEAKER_02Well, I don't feel bad for you.
SPEAKER_00No, no, not at all. Not at all. Well, listen, Cynthia, once again, it it was it's always great to get what your take on what to serve, and we always end up with something that's always other than m my aversion to certain Chardonnays, which I'm still working on. Everything else has just been just amazing, and people have commented, we've gotten people to try some of the wines that you've and now they're kind of hooked as well. So I thank you for that. Yes, yes, absolutely. Yeah, because a lot of times you never know what you you never find out what the result of wine o'clock is until somebody says, Oh, I was listening to your podcast. I like that wine. So so keep it coming, keep it coming. I I just want to thank I want to thank my dear friend Scott. Thank you again, Cynthia, because you the knowledge that you have and the knowledge that you're acquiring on this course you're taking is absolutely phenomenal, and it's very helpful. So thank you for that. And if you have any questions about today's recipe, or if you would like to be a guest home cook like our friend Scott on Perfectly Seasoned, please email me at info at the Silver Chef the I'm sorry, info at the SilverChef.net. And I'd like to thank Okay, hang on. If you have any questions about today's recipe or if you would like to be a guest home cook on Perfectly Seasoned, please email me at info at the SilverChef.net. And I'd like to thank uh friend Scott for doing this uh recipe today. And also, of course, Cynthia, your knowledge is always, always very much appreciated. And you can listen to Perfectly Seasoned on my website, thesilverchef.net, my Facebook page, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Pandora, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And this is your personal chef, Greg Strom, thanking you for joining us today on Perfectly Seasoned. And remember to eat fresh, may the fork be with you, and may all your days be perfectly seasoned.