CIRA – The Council of Italian Restaurants in Australia hosts a number of cooking classes. I was fortunate enough to attend this class (taught by Logan Campbell from Lucio’s restaurant). A previous post talked about the Eggplant Ravioli we made. The second dish we made was a rolled spatchcock and brussel sprouts. Deboning a spatchcock is not easy, especially when you are doing it for the first time. I don’t even think I can begin to go through the process but I am sure that the internet contains a number of videos you can google to show you how it’s done. Otherwise, a number of good butchers will do this for you.
The benefit of this technique is that the spatchcock remains moist all throughout your cooking and is flavoured with the butter and rosemary. Amazing dish and relatively simple (except for the deboning part)
The idea is pretty simple.
Spatchcock
Ingredients
Spatchcock – one per person or if using chicken, half a chicken per person
Butter – around 20 grams per person
Rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste
Debone the spatchcock (if you can’t find spatchcock, use a chicken instead) and lay it on a board.
Next add some butter, salt and pepper and rosemary on the flesh side and wrap in cling wrap to form a log and then wrap in aluminium foil.
Steam (or simmer) for some time (the spatchcock took me around 17 minutes). Rest. Before serving fry with some olive oil to crisp up the skin.
For the brussel sprouts
Ingredients
Brussel Sprouts
Ingredients
Sage
Speck, diced
Pan fry the speck until crispy, add the brussel sprouts and saute until cooked.
To serve, lay out the brussel sprouts and top with a portion of the rolled spatchcock.
Trissalicious 
[…] vegetarian that comes to my house (and carnivores love it too!). I’ve also learned how to debone a spatchcock and a stuff a duck leg in his […]
omg look how moist the spatchcock looks! This kind of reminds me of Julia’s chicken on Masterchef, hahaha here I go with the mastechef reference again. I actually prefer these little birds to chicken, e.g. quail, spatchcock etc, I find them more sweeter.
Hi Linda – Yes I definitely prefer spatchcock to quail – it’s much easier to eat when they are bigger! hehe… So you also a masterchef fan? Who were you rooting for?
ooh look at those cubes of butter mmm i love butter! oh and was wondering if you have an rss feed?
Hi! I love butter too! In the photos I put a lot of butter but you will be surprised at how a small piece really goes a long way. Even if you use half the amount that I put, it will still taste super.
I don’t have an rss feed yet but will get one now. 🙂