Butterfly for Christmas

Well, I had in mind a barbecue chicken for Christmas dinner once the boys were back from their big family lunch with their mother. Bummer that it was pouring rain, but not to fear, the oven will have to substitute.

What I’ve been thinking over since my last Portuguese chicken experience was what makes this style so different from regular barbecue bird. The obvious reason is that the chicken is butterflied, not whole.

Why butterfly

Because the chicken lays out flat, it can be barbecued direct on the grill, rather than through convection or rotated on a spit. It also cooks more quickly as a result. The downside can be that it can be dry if not prepared properly. This is what I found in my last Portuguese chicken experience, which made me think - “I can do better than this”.

Also, because you remove the chicken back, which generally gets tossed out uneaten when you cook the whole bird, this portion can be retained for later stock making. Just have a bag in the freezer, and once it’s full, it’s stock time! No waste. Good.

How butterfly

First, I always take out the wishbone, because the kids like the wish thing. This is easily removed by going to the neck end and isolating the bone with a small, sharp knife. The bone pops out easily.

Take a whole chicken and place it breast down on a chopping board.

Starting from the tail end, use kitchen shears to cut down one side, the full length of the spine. Then repeat down the other side. This should leave you with a four centimetre slab of backbone for your stock stockpile.

Flip the bird over and flatten out with the breast bone facing towards you. There’s a kind of coin-shaped piece of cartilage at the top of the breast bone. Slice it down the middle then remove it. This reveals the top of the breast bone. You can then follow the bone with your fingers under the thin membrane, all the way to the end and along the cartilage at the end of the bone. Do this on both sides, then lift out the breast bone. This is also called the keel bone, and now you can see why.

With the chicken still laid breast down, trim excess fat and skin flaps. Finally, clip off the wing tips. These are better used in the stock bag than being burnt on the barbecue.

Place flattened, skin side up, in an oven dish or something similar. Here's a YouTube video which shows the basics.

Two bad things about the vid is 1. Throwing out the stock bones 2. Cooking while wearing a ring.

The marinade

The marinade to butterflied chicken is what stuffing is to whole chicken. It keeps it moist and flavoursome.

My favourite is like this.

• .25 cup olive oil
• Juice of one lemon
• Teaspoon salt
• Tablespoon ground black pepper
• Tablespoon smokey paprika

Mix this in a bowl, and apply to the chicken using a pastry brush, so that it’s generously covered. Keep the remainder of the marinade for later.

Cover the chicken and let it rest in the fridge for a least an hour.

Cooking

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Give the chicken another coat of marinade before placing in the oven. After 30 minutes, baste with marinade again. After another 30, repeat. Another 15, and it’s done.