Spatchcocking a Chicken

Hi! It's Jilly. Yesterday my husband wanted to grill a whole chicken on the barbecue. But, it would need to marinate during the day while he was at work, so I was tasked with preparing the marinade. That involved spatchcocking the chicken. What's that?!?! Yeah, I didn't know either. Don't worry, it's nothing dirty...although your hands get pretty dirty while doing it, so I take that back. ;)

Basically, you are cutting out the backbone and breast bone so you can lay the chicken out flat. I followed the directions found in How to Grill by Steve Raichlen, but I found a pretty decent tutorial at Cook Think if you are curious.

I am not the best cook by any stretch of the imagination, but I felt REALLY intimidated when one of the "tips" in the book said, "If you're not a great surgeon, simply removing the backbone is enough." Aah! A great surgeon?! I'm no surgeon at all! In fact, it's my husband who is the surgeon! Why isn't HE the one doing this?!

But, in spite of all that, I think I did a pretty okay job, if I do say so myself...and I do. ;) Here's a photo of the finished job. Not a bad spatchcocking, eh?

Btw, isn't "spatchcock" kind of a funny word? I think I'll say it a few more times for good measure. Spatchcock. Spatchcocking. Spatchcocked.

Ok, I'm done. What feats have you attempted in the kitchen? Ever tried to make a risotto that would knock Gordon Ramsey's socks off and keep you from getting kicked out of Hell's Kitchen while being called a donkey? Share your culinary adventures!