Spatchcock [spa ch käk] v. to split open and prepare a chicken or other bird for grilling or spit-roasting
Spatchcocked birds (also called spatchcocks) are flattened out with their backbones removed, which helps them to cook much faster and preserve their moisture and tenderness. Spatchcocking a turkey is a good way to prepare that Thanksgiving beast, flattening its girth down to a manageable thickness that roasts quickly and thoroughly over a smoky grill.
You can see step-by-step, illustrated instructions for spatchcocking a chicken at the SFGate website, and there is an interesting discussion over at this site on spatchcocking a turkey - apparently it only takes about 2 1/2 hours to cook. I have one friend, a former chef, who swears by this method, and his grilled turkeys and chickens are indeed sublime.
Plus, the word spatchcock, it is really fun to say. Spatchcock!
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sorry, the first thing I thought of was those frogs dissected in high school biology class.......
I thought that was butterflying. But from now on I will say Spatchcock because it sounds dirty and awesome.
Such a funny word. It was all over an Australian chicken cookbook my mother-in-law gave me and I was just SO confused.
Yeah, although I love this word, I think any respectable chef would still call it butterflying.
Here's a great article I didn't see until now - it's from the Washington Post. She says that in France birds prepared this way are called "poulet en crapaudine" - "chicken in the style of a toad," (they totally do look like dissected frogs!) and she addresses the technical differences between spatchcocking and butterflying. There's some good tips/recipes in there too.
The phrase "poulet en crapaudine" reminds me of a Jacques Pépin recipe for "poulet à la grenouille" or "chicken à la frog", essentially lightly breaded chicken fried with lots of garlic and topped with parsley. Does this prove the saying that eating frog is just like eating chicken?
Another great cut is French cut brest ( which includes the brest legs and thighs) my organic farmer at the Dupont metro market in DC had the best tasting french cut brests and they were so easy to cook
Now in Kentucky we have a great organix free range chicken farmer, But they only sell them whole.
Interesting. I pre-ordered a semi-deboned butterflied turkey yesterday and was relieved when the butcher didn't "squawk" upon hearing my request for the extra fuss, or charge more. My only problem will be that I don't think my old stove's broiler will be roomy enough to broil it before roasting. But a recipe from Williams Sonoma skips broiling, so maybe I'll be OK. Anyone have experience with this preparation?