Spatchcock What?

Sandra Phinney introduces readers to a deliciously dubious word. Spatchcock.

I learned a new word. Spathcock. As in, “Do you know how to spatchcock a chicken?”

Well, I’ve recently been spatchcocking chickens. It sounds a little disgusting, if not downright perverse, but I promise you this is all on the up and up.

The funny thing is that I’ve been cooking since I was 15 and have never heard the term. In case you don’t know either, it’s a way of cutting a chicken so you end up with a splayed or “butterflied” bird that bakes pretty quickly. It’s also a popular method of preparing a chicken for the BBQ, but I haven’t tried that yet.

In a nutshell, you remove the backbone and sternum or keel of the bird, spread its legs, flip it over and flatten the thing out. Then you gussy it up with herbs like rosemary or summer savoury, add a little oil and lemon juice then bake for an hour. There are loads of recipes floating around but this one is simple and delicious. I also added some chunked up potatoes and carrots during the cooking process.

I learned about this from my friend Donna Lee Cain. She brought a spatchcocked chicken graced with veggies to my home one night. I had just been home a few days after being in the hospital for a hip replacement. So getting this was a treat. And I was so impressed with this meal that I vowed to take up the sport of spatchcocking as soon as I was mobile.

I’m now a convert.

There are tons of “how-to” videos on the internet like this one. Let me know how you make out!

Photo Credit

“Spatchcocked chicken” © Sandra Phinney. All Rights Reserved.

This story was previously published on www.sandraphinney.com on November 14, 2010.

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