So - you take a guineafowl. Which for some reason has a reputation for being dry and tough: the farmed stuff is tender, succulent and really quite fatty. You figure that it will kick arse on the BBQ.You look at Norm Shoen's blog and say "Spatchcock seems a good idea".
Then you google and find a couple of youtube clips showing burly men going snip, snip, rip, whack and there you have a spatchcock. So how hard can it be?
The answer is really quite hard. I think I must have little girly hands. Or blunt shears. Because it took a lot of swearing to get the spine and breast bone out of my guineafowl!
But once it was done, rubbed liberally with salt and pepper and slowly roasted in the Weber, we were rewarded with juicy, delicious meat (that you could probably serve to a wimp who says they don't like game) and deeply golden (and in some cases charcoal black) crisp skin. Leftover veg from Friday night made this a pretty low-effort Sunday supper (given that I spatchcocked the bird a week ago and it's been in the freezer since so I'd almost forgotten the pain).
I bet if I get some new shears I'll be able to smack out a spatchcock in seconds the next time. And there will be a next time...
6 comments:
You know, I had to re-hone my knife a couple times when I spatched my chicken, and the shears never just snip through the ribcage like they do on TV. I like the guinea fowl - nice touch!
Maybe you have little girly hands too?
The guineafowl was great - it's a better size for the 2 of us than a chicken.
Sounds yummy, I have never had guineafowl before.
I haven't had guineafowl either, but I am wondering if it is similar to quail or cornish game hen? It looks wonderful!
Cornish game hen is a poussin isn't it? A young chicken? Well it is about that size, but has a slightly stronger flavour. Not as strong as quail though! Maybe like really succulent dark turkey meat? Because of the fat it almost has a richness like duck. It really is good! If you get a chance for a farmed one I can recommend it!
I've eaten guinea fowl a few times, but now I always spatchcock it and cook a one kilo bird for about 45 minutes. Best ones are farmed in France, sold at Sainsbury's.
I prefer it to pheasant--in taste a mix of pheasant and free range chicken.
Barry Woodward
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