Voted Off the Island: What Alton Brown Taught Me

March 18, 2008

What Alton Brown Taught Me

If you like to roast or grill whole chickens, but are not good at cutting them into serving pieces, this post is for you. I was watching Good Eats one night and Alton Brown demonstrated how to butterfly a chicken. Alton did his chicken in a cast iron skillet with bacon and then broiled it for the big finish.

But for me, it was the simplicity of the butterflying technique that got my juices going. I had to try this.

So I bought me a gorgeous hormone-free bird and butterflied it, just as Alton did. Then I seasoned it with salt, pepper, adobo, and smoked paprika, and roasted her on a rack at 400 in my oven. Results were WOW. The bird cooked faster and more evenly. The skin got wonderfully crispy, and the bird was a cinch to cut into serving pieces.

You will need a very good knife, or preferably good quality poultry shears.

Here's a You Tube video that shows how to do it.

Posted at 10:33 AM in Food and Drink | Permalink

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Hey, thanks for this - I remembered it whilst staring into the fridge this afternoon, and one chicken was duly butterflied. Very nice!

Posted by: HeatherErin | April 01, 2008 at 07:44 PM

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Voted Off the Island

Bye bye L.I. Hello Atlanta.

March 18, 2008

What Alton Brown Taught Me

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