Spatchcock in white wine jus with cauliflower purée and toasted pistachio crumbs

Spatchcock with cauliflower and pistachios

I've been wanting to cook spatchcock for a while now. I've eaten it a few times and noticed that my local IGA stocks them. 

I'm not great with cooking meat. I'm a bit squeamish and also inexperienced. It's a bit difficult when living alone too - can't exactly cook a roast and eat it all on my own! 

But I definitely want to get past the fear, so I thought that a spatchcock was a good place to start. It's small and not too daunting.

My main concern was ripping it all apart, and ensuring that it was cooked through. Thank god for YouTube. I learnt how to quarter the bird in this way... it wasn't as bad as I thought.

The worst part was that my spatchcock had a neck. Ew!

Anyway, once I had the wings, drumsticks and breasts in separate pieces, I covered them with a garlic, olive oil and butter rub, and sealed them briefly in a pan. 

I had decided to finish off the meat in my French oven. After lightly cooking some garlic and onion in olive oil in there, I added some white wine and then the spatchcock pieces. 

With the lid on, these cooked for about 15 minutes. 

French oven cooking.

In the meantime, I had toasted then finely chopped some pistachios. These were to add some extra texture and flavour to the dish.

I also prepared a cauliflower purée. This is pretty easy and tastes great. Cook the cauliflower in a mixture of milk and water on the stovetop. Add in some onion and garlic and season. When it is cooked, drain off the liquid and purée the rest. You can do this with a blender or a stick mixer. 

Once the spatchcock was cooked through, I took it out and placed it in a warm pan. I brought the remaining liquid in the French oven to the boil and let it reduce somewhat. This was then strained to form the jus and poured over the spatchcock. 

To serve, I filled a bowl with the purée, then sprinkled the pistachio crumbs on top. I used some of the soft onion and garlic pieces removed from the jus as a bed for the spatchcock. These added some nice flavour. 

Finally I arranged the spatchcock on top of the purée, topping it with a few more onions and garlic and seasoning with some pepper.

Purée is always a bit tricky... when you go to a restaurant, you are usually given a thin swipe on the plate. For a "real" dinner, you usually want a bit more than that. I've served it on the side before, in a ramekin, which I may do next time. This prevents the meat from sinking into the cauliflower. More of a logistical issue than anything else though! Tastes great either way. 

Slightly difficult to eat but tasty nonetheless.