I’ll admit it – one of the motives in coming up with this recipe was in ensuring that the first word I typed on Gastronomy Domine in 2010 could be “Spatchcocked”, a word which hasn’t got any less fun since I last typed it.
It being just after the festive season, the shops are still full of meats a little beyond the ordinary, so my local supermarket has shelves full of lovely fatty bacon collars (three are in the fridge at the moment, waiting for a little boiling swim in some Chinese aromatics which will turn them into interesting hams); veal mince (superb in a cottage pie); turkey crowns (I walked straight past these grimacing); pheasant and venison mixtures for stewing; and poussins, ready-spatchcocked.
I really enjoy cooking a bird prepared like this. Cooking times are reduced massively by flattening a bird out, so the meat can be passed very quickly under the grill, leaving you with wonderfully moist meat. If your poussin hasn’t been spatchcocked, it’s very easy to do it yourself – there are instructions here for spatchcocking a full-sized chicken.
I just couldn’t bring myself to go outside into the freezing winter with the barbecue, so I’ve cooked this under the conventional grill rather than over charcoal. If you’re in a position to use charcoal here, please do – it’ll be delicious.
Reckon to serve one poussin per person (try saying that after a glass of post-festive Prosecco – incidentally, Prosecco is a very nice match to this dish with its Italian aromatics). Some packaging will suggest that one bird will serve two. It won’t. They’re small, they’re bony and they’re fiddly to eat. Much better to serve a generous whole poussin to each person than to find yourselves squabbling over too little food. To marinade two flattened-out baby birds, you’ll need:
75ml extra-virgin olive oil
Juice and zest of 2 lemons
1 bunch (about 15g) fresh oregano, chopped finely
3 tablespoons capers, chopped finely
4 fat cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaped teaspoon Italian chilli flakes (use more or less according to how spicy you fancy it)
1 teaspoon salt
A generous grinding of pepper
Mix all the marinade ingredients and smear them all over the poussins in a large bowl. Refrigerate for 24 hours with a cover, turning a few times.
When you are ready to cook, position the birds on a rack under a hot grill, as far from the element as possible, skin-side down. Spoon over some of the marinade and grill the non-skin side for about 12 minutes. Flip the poussins over so the skin is uppermost, baste with some more marinade, and cook for another 12 minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Check the meat is cooked through by piercing a thigh at the thickest part – the juices should run clear. if the juices are bloody, leave the birds under the grill for another five minutes and repeat the test.
Sprinkle the cooked poussins with a little more oregano, and serve with buttered rice and a sharp salad.
Looks gorgeous – sadly my problem with poussin is that it seems to be impossible to find non-battery ones, in the supermarkets at least. Unfortunate we don't have a local butcher who would supply such things 🙁
That looks sooo good. I've been in a caper mood recently so I think that I'll have to give this a go. Thanks for sharing it 🙂
This is delicious! I hope i can get some in the grocery so that I can try this! I am so excited!
There's no way a poussin could ever serve two – that would make too mean a meal.
I like the idea of poussin, but I'm often disappointed by them. Flavour in a chicken comes with age, and that's one thing these birds just don't have.
A good seasoning and a load of herbs definitely helps, though.
It's all about texture with poussins for me; it's an easy (and slightly less terrifying) way to get the mouthfeel you do with the sort of Chinese poached chicken that's cooked so it's still pink near the bone, in the way that a lot of Europeans and Americans just wouldn't touch. And you're right – a) I can't imagine two sharing one, and b) I wouldn't dream of cooking a poussin without a very, very dense marinade. Thank God for capers.
I love this one wanna try it