B-b-b-bird, bird, bird. Bird is the word.

A while back, my friend Jennifer, who had been subjected to me lamenting the lack of protein in my life, took pity and bestowed upon me one of her Hutterite chickens. Her family is from Saskatchewan and they have been getting Hutterite chickens for years. Now, I don’t know much about the Hutterites but I’m going to assume that because they typically use traditional farming practices and they are a group of people that adhere strongly to their traditions that the use of pesticides or GMO products would be a strict no-no. I’m also going to assume that because of these traditions that they treat their animals with dignity and respect. Therefore, it seems that Hutterite chicken is about as ethical as you can get.

So, what happens when you have one chicken? Do you save it for a special occasion? Do you roast it whole? Do you debone it and ration it out? These are serious considerations. I certainly didn’t want any of it to go to waste! I think because I didn’t know for awhile when I would be getting my next chicken, I didn’t do anything with it. However, I did put my chicken order in with Aurora Mountain Farm and my chickens will be arriving on my doorstep any day now. It’s time to use that Hutterite chicken! As an old friend from high school was in town for a visit, I decided I would try it out on her!

Did I mention that it’s massive?! A 7 pounder! I came across a recipe in one of my fave cookbooks, Whitewater Cooks at home. The recipe was Tuscan Style Lemon and Herb Split Chicken, p. 124. It seemed like a great summer recipe. The chicken was to be cooked on the BBQ and used fresh herbs and lemon. Very summery. Well, in the end it turned out quite nice but it was not without its challenges. It turns out it’s rather difficult to manoeuvre a large bird split in half (but still attached) around on a BBQ. I think in the future I would only do this recipe if I were using a smaller bird. It might be even be better if I were using a different species all together such as a cornish game hen, squab, quail or even a local wild bird, such as a ruffed grouse. It might be a lot less hassle just to do it in the oven as well. 

Here was our menu for the evening:
Appetizer:
Herbed Chèvre & Pistachio Balls served with Sourdough bread & crackers
Main Course:
Tuscan Style Lemon and Herb Split Chicken (with assorted dijon mustards)
Roasted Potato Wedges
Summer Salad
Dessert:
Assorted squares from the local bakery, Cheechako’s

Here are the recipes:

Herbed Chèvre & Pistachio Balls 
This is a great, easy, make ahead appy that always goes over well! They were all gone before I remembered to take a picture!

300g creamy goat cheese
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh oregano
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 small pieces of sundried tomato, minced (the kind that are kept in oil)
2 small garlic cloves, minced
1 cup finely chopped pistachio

With a fork, mash together all ingredients except the nuts. Form into small balls and roll into the nuts. Cover and chill for up to 2 hours before serving. Can be made up ahead.

NOTES:
1) If the goat cheese is not room temperature, you can defrost it slightly in the microwave. You just want to be able to mash it easily.
2) I didn’t have fresh thyme so I used 1/2 tsp of dried thyme instead. When using dried herbs, reduce the amount by at least half!
3) 2 garlic cloves make it very garlicky so you may want to only use one.
4) I took the balls out of the fridge an hour prior to serving so that they were soft and spreadable on the bread or crackers.

Tuscan Style Lemon and Herb Split Chicken
This chicken is split down the middle and marinated overnight in a mixture of lemon juice, zest, olive oil, fresh herbs, paprika, salt and pepper before being cooked on the BBQ. I made quite a few variations to this recipe so below is what I did, not the original version of the recipe. However, I did scale the measurements here as if I was using a bird half the size. Using a 7 pound bird is not recommended for this recipe unless you are baking it in the oven!

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (3.5 lbs)
5 lemons (for zest, juice & garnish)
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt, plus more to taste

Directions:
1) Split the chicken by first removing the backbone. Turn the chicken onto its breast so that the back is facing up. Use your fingers to feel where the backbone is located then use a sturdy pair of scissors to cut down one side of the chicken right next to the backbone (you’re basically cutting through the ribs). Then cut along the other side of the backbone and remove it completely. Next, open up the bird and with a sharp knife slice the breast bone with your knife (don’t go all the way through). You want the bird to lay flat. You can use your hands and press down on each breast to crack it further. Flip the bird back over and put it in a baking dish.
2) Wash the lemons, and prepare them. You need 1 tbsp of zest. Then you need the juice of 2.5 lemons for the marinade. Save the other lemons for when you are actually cooking the bird.
3) Combine the lemon juice, zest, olive oil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, paprika, salt and pepper.
Pour the marinade over the bird and rub it all over. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
4) Pre-heat the BBQ to high heat then turn it down as low as your BBQ will go.
5) Remove the chicken from the marinade and sprinkle with salt all over.
6) Place the chicken on the BBQ skin side down on the grill allowing for grill marks to form. When lifting off grill, lift slowly to avoid tearing skin. Move to the top rack and allow to cook, flipping every 15 minutes or so for even cooking. Occasionally squeeze lemon juice over the bird as it’s cooking from the remaining lemon halves.
7) Cooking time will vary. Allow for approximately 1.5 hours for a bird of this size. (My 7 pounder took 3 hours!) Use a meat thermometre and ensure that meat has an internal temperature of 165 degrees F in its thickest parts. Check both the leg and breast meat.
8) When the chicken is almost done. Grill the remaining lemon halves face down.
9) Serve on a large platter garnished with grilled lemon halves and sprigs of rosemary.

NOTES:
1) The original recipe says to cover the chicken with bricks or rocks covered in tinfoil on top of the chicken to flatten it. I presuming that they want you to do this to help make nice grill marks on the bird. It sounded a little too labour intensive to me so instead, I placed a baking sheet on top of the chicken loaded with 2 heavy cast iron frying pans. It then says to put down the cover and let it cook for 40 minutes. The problem is they say that your BBQ should be about 200 degrees F. My BBQ wouldn’t go lower than 400 degrees F. There was no way that I could leave it on the lower grill or it would be charred to bits. So what I did was let it get those initial grill marks, then I removed the weight and then I moved the chicken to the top rack so it would not be in the direct heat and burn. I’m not convinced that I needed to add that weight on top of the bird. I’m pretty sure you will still get nice grill marks and it might actually be better because, as careful as I was, I lost a lot of skin when I lifted it off the grill. I’m guessing it was difficult to remove from the bird from the grill because it was being pressed down so hard. Next time I’ll forgo the weight and let you know how it turns out.

 2) I also found that I had to turn it several times to ensure even cooking, which was awkward with a very large bird, all the more reason to use a smaller bird. The legs cooked much faster than the breast. Luckily, dark meat handles longer cooking times well without getting dried out. When I cooking this bird, the legs actually came off the body when they were done. I removed them from the grill and kept them warm while the rest of the bird finished cooking.

The final product!

Roasted Potato Wedges
10 small potatoes
olive oil
herbes de Provence
paprika
granulated garlic
salt & pepper
red chili flakes

Wash and cut potatoes into wedges. Toss potatoes in a bowl with the remaining ingredients. Lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees F for an hour or more until crispy and done. Stir a couple times through the baking time for even cooking.

Summer Salad

The summer salad consisted of red leaf lettuce from my garden, a bit of thinly sliced red onion, toasted almond slivers, halved blackberries. The vinaigrette consisted of grainy dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, a touch of maple syrup, s/p, grapeseed oil.

So as you can imagine, trying to get this bird cooked must have been quite the spectacle. However, the end result was worth it. It was delicious and the lemon flavour really came through. I will definitely make this recipe again now that I know what I'm doing. For you it will be much easier because I’ve done all the hard work. Just follow my suggestions and you should be fine! As for myself, in the future, I think I will keep the experimentation to a minimum when I have guests!