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Spatchcock chicken with barbecue sauce and summer slaw

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  • Prep: 20m
  • Cook: 40m
  • Serves: 4

This dish is a colourful, balanced meal inspired by the barbecue heritage of the Deep South. It’s a world away from blackened sausages and leathery burgers.

Method

  1. Light the barbecue and get the embers glowing hot and steady.
  2. To spatchcock the chicken put it on a chopping board with the breasts facing down and use poultry sheers or a tough pair of scissors to cut up either side of the spine and remove it. Flip the chicken over, spread it out so the legs are sticking out then press down hard on the breastbone until the bird is flat. Take two metal barbecue skewers and insert each skewer diagonally across the chicken from each thigh to breast to make a flat X that will keep the chicken in shape as it cooks. Brush lightly with oil and season generously then pop it on the barbecue, skin side down for 20 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 20 minutes or until the juices run clear. Set aside to rest before serving.
  3. For the sauce, simply combine all the ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a very gently bubble. Cook, stirring often, for a few minutes so it reduces and the flavours mingle.
  4. For the slaw, grate or julienne the carrot, beetroot, pepper, spring onion, radish and cucumber and put them in a large bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and mix together (hands are best for this). Check the seasoning and adjust as needed.
  5. To serve, pile the slaw onto a plate, sit the chicken, charred bits, juices and all, on top and spoon the sauce into a bowl on the side.

Ingredients

All to be sourced organic where possible

  • For the chicken:
  • 1 whole chicken, around 1.4kg
  • 1 tbsp sunflower oil
  • Salt
  • For the barbecue sauce:
  • 140g tomato puree
  • 15g ketchup
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp dark muscovado sugar
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¼ tsp chipotle chilli flakes
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp water
  • For the slaw:
  • 2 carrots, roughly 200g
  • 2 beetroots, roughly 150g
  • 1 red pepper
  • 6 spring onions
  • 16 radishes
  • 20cm chunk of cucumber
  • 5 tbsp chopped parsley
  • 4 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp plain yogurt
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • Pinch of salt
Kathy Slack

Written by

Kathy Slack

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