Honey, herb and citrus spatchcock chicken

By Kitchen Exile May 30, 2019 BBQ, Honey and herb spatchcock chicken, main course

I love simple dishes such as this, a good organic chicken marinaded in herbs from the garden, simply roasted on the BBQ and I'm a very happy lady! I've also included garlic scapes, which are available his time of year if you grow your own garlic. These are the green shoots that you see and taste really good too. You can use normal garlic in place of them.

1 chicken

10g fresh chives

5g fresh tarragon

10g garlic scapes or 4 cloves of garlic

10g oregano leaves

3 sage leaves

10g rosemary leaves

1 fresh bay leaf

10g fresh parsley

70ml rapeseed oil

10ml lemon juice

10ml orange juice
20ml honey

Zest of one lemon and zest and half an orange

Salt and pepper

To spatchcock the chicken, turn the bird breast side down and remove the backbone with poultry scissors
Turn the bird breast side up and push down to flatten it

Score the breast, legs and thighs with a knife to allow the marinade to penetrate

Finely chop all the herbs

In a bowl add the zest and juice of the orange and lemon, the herbs, honey and the rapeseed oil, mix together

Place the chicken in a roasting tray and pour over the marinade, allow to marinade for at least 6 hours in the fridge

Set your BBQ up for direct cooking, at 180c with some oak chips

Take the chicken out of the fridge and allow to come to room temp

Allow the thick white smoke to die down before starting to cook

Take the chicken out of the roasting tray and place skin side down on the BBQ and cook for 15 minutes to get a nice char

Turn the chicken so it is bone side down on the griddle, pour over any excess marinade
Cook for a further 60 minutes until the breasts or thighs register 65c core temp (the cooking time may vary if you have a large chicken)

Once cooked, put in a warm place to rest for 15 minutes

Serve with a crisp salad and pour over the resting juices