Spatchcocked

In between completing the last few pages of my Road Trip Journal and catching up with the washing and ironing mountain, somehow we find we need to eat.  When it’s hot, neither of us feels much like eating, but now the wind has changed and the clouds set in, we feel more in need of comfort.  Summer comfort eating is different from Autumn/Winter comfort eating though, isn’t it?

Our go-to comfort food this year is most certainly spatchcocked chicken.  If they’re on offer in Waitrose at 3 for £10, then all the better, because those cheap little chickens are absolutely delicious cooked this way.  I claim none of the ownership: that has to go to Nigella, whose Forever Summer is a bit of a go-to resource at this time of the year.  Her recipe comes more in the form of general advice rather than specific ingredients and suits us just fine.  My hero does the kitchen scissors bit and I’m the olive oil, garlic, lemon, thyme and plastic bag girl.  Having added the bits and pieces to the rather comical bird in the bag, we smoosh it about a bit and leave it in the fridge overnight or a bit longer.

An hour in the oven with a few new potatoes thrown in for good measure and it’s done.  Just the thing for a rainy Tuesday evening when all the recent heat seems to have disappeared.

There might even be a little left over for a sandwich tomorrow as well.