Spatchcock chicken with a reduced stock
I love a good roast chicken and we very often spatchcock them for speed and even cooking. Excellent, but lacks the gravy which is so easily made from a roasting tin. Technically what I’ve made here is a rubbish demi-glace really, but it’s super consentrated and brings a lot to the roast meat.
As with everything stock related, you can throw un any odds and sods. Ends of caarrots, left over roast veg, it’s all good.
You will need
- A chicken for roasting as high welfare as you can afford preferably
- A couple of sticks of celary
- Some onion (I used up a couple of spring onions that were past their best)
- A clove of garlic
- Some woody herbs (I used thyme)
- A good sug f wine based booze (white wine, vermouth, I used some dry sherry that needed using up)
- Half a lemon
- A slug of soy
- A teaspoon of butter
Do
- Turn the oven on 200oC
- Cut out the backbone of chicken, I used heavy sissors then chop it up into chunks (heavy knife needed)
- Pop it, the onion, garlic, herbs and celary into a frying pan with a little oil and cook for 15 minutes until everything is browned
- Trasfer the cooked stuff to a big pan and turn the heat up on the frying pan
- Slosh in the booze and scrape away all the good stuck on bits (deglazing the pan)
- Pou is all into the big pan, add a pint of cold water and po on a low heat, uncovered for about an hour. Top up the water if it drops below the level of the veg
- Meanwhile, flatten out the chicken, popping the hip joints if needed and tucking the wingtips back under so they don’t burn. Rub with a little oil, salt and pepper
- Pop the bird in the oven.
- Once the chicken is nearly done, strain the stock. It should be about an inch deep in your pan
- Add the butter, a teaspoon of soy and the juice and zest of the half lemon
- Turn the heat up and bubble it down to a few tablespoonsful (see the picture of a ramikin)
- Serve
Result
The chicken is wickedly crisp on the outside, cooked all the way through and can easily be pulled from the bone. Spooning over the glaze is a huge umami punch, rich and savoury.
I served it with some flatbreads for scooping it all up and sliced lettuce.
Everything left over (including the already simmered veg) can go into the stock pot. Remember to rince the glaze ramikin with hot water so nothing goes to waste.
