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Please Fave the original Here

My first attempt at spatch-cooking...er...cocking...eh...never mind :p

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Please Fave the Original Submission: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/14391770/

From yours truly :B

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Another recipe I got from the Food Network Magazine (Sept. 2014) that I found was very tasty :3

Ingredients:
*optional

2 Cornish game hens
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
2 lemons (1 zested, 1 juiced - I actually only used one)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous (I finally got around to using my tri-colored couscous Ive had in my cabinet since eons ago :P)
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (I used veggie, but dont let that stop you)
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon fresh oregano*
1 tablespoon sumac*
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (kind of skipped, I'll come to this in a moment)

Your best bet is to make the marinade first - so just get a small bowl, squeeze in one lemon (and put in the zest of that same lemon in the bowl) ...1/4 cup honey...paprika...cumin...oregano...and sumac. NOT poison sumac either by the way, but the BERRY sumac, which is usually found dried, ground, and used in a lot of Middle Eastern / Turkish cooking. (And if you cant find then just use some hot paprika or a bit of cayenne, either works just as well)

Now if I may: the instructions in the magazine call for OVEN cooking.

I, on the other hand, used the outdoor grill - and if you look carefully you'll see a shiny looking cubish thingy behind that plate of chicken there...

That would be a brick, wrapped up in tin foil :P

So this would be a bricked chicken - some might also call this 'spatchcocking' (no comment :P)...bookending...or even butterflying.

The chickens were patted dry...slathered with the butter and then salted and peppered...and then put in the grill at 400 degrees F for 40 minutes.

And as for the brick, THAT was covered in foil and used as a weight to help the chicken cook faster since (1.) its covered in foil, a great conductor for heat and (2.) as is the brick itself, since itll soak up heat like a sponge!
(All you have to do is lie the brick right down on the chicken and just let it cook...thats it)

But DURING that, it was basted with the honey lemon marinade as it was flipped from time to time...then all you need to do is just cut the heat off at the 40 minute mark and just let rest for about five minutes.

Very tasty ...and the couscous recipe is up next :)

Updated tasting notes:

- As a small update I would say you might want to cook this more to the 30 minute mark, instead of the 40. (Yes, it was slightly overcooked in the 'tiny parts' - i.e., legs and wings)

I certainly should have considered that it IS a smaller bird and cooked it accordingly...I just didnt want to take any chances, as I mentioned in the original submission, because it was still a good bit frozen even after a day's thawing!

Ah well, still tasted quite good at any rate, so live and learn :B

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Re- Updated notes: You will really need a good pair of kitchen shears to fully open up the chickens, and then let them have a good soak in the marinade for 12 hours (or at least a day if you want the flavors more developed), then grill them with the brick for a good 30 minutes.