Chicken - With savage cuts

With all this theme of savage cutting, I think it's probably wise to do a recipe that a.) involves cutting and b.) is suitable for these frugal times.

Chicken is getting increasingly expensive, especially if you're going for leg or breast meat, or organic birds.

I find a much cheaper alternative to buying large amounts of chicken precut is to joint your own chicken. This also means you can roast it all together remarkably quickly, with the bones in for flavour.

There's also a part of me which rebels at the idea of getting meat without realising it comes from an animal - I think far too few people actually think about what they are eating. Chicken is particularly bad for this; I often end up buying chicken breast, and can't help but compare the pink, skinless things under the cellophane to buying a tray of baby rodents or something.



Above: Less like a rodent



Quick Roast Chicken with Savage cuts

Preparation time: 15 minutes the first time, 5 minutes with practice
Cooking time: 30 minutes



Ingredients:

1 Chicken
Olive Oil
2 Cloves of Garlic
A Lemon
A glass of White wine
A handful of Basil

Tools:

One big sharp knife
A Roasting tin
A lack of squeamishness

Preparation:

1.)Cut through the skin between the leg and the breast. Feel like a manly hunter gatherer as you butcher the beast.

2.)Bend the leg back as far as possible, so the end of the leg bone pops out from the socket. Feel powerful as you snap the creature's bones with one mighty blow. Just like being the Hulk.

3.) Cleave the leg away from the body with one mighty blow. Repeat on the other side. Imagine you are a Samurai while doing this.

4.) Cut through the joints connecting the drumsticks to the thighs and separate the two different bits. Just like being Quincy, MD.

5.) Back to Samurai mode, and slice off the wings.

6.) To serve the breasts off the bone, cut either side of the breastbone & then carefully remove the breast meat from the bones with your sharp knife. If serving on the bone, turn the chicken over and cut through the centre of the breastbone to separate the breasts. Yes, breasts. This is a manly dish. Phoar, etc.

Voila! You have 8 pieces of chicken, for far less money than you'd otherwise spend. If you like, you can even use the carcass to make stock, but we'll stay away from that for now.



Cooking:

1.) Season the Chicken, add your handful of dried basil, and push garlic under the chicken skin, then and put the pieces in the roasting tin.

2.) Pour enough olive oil over the chicken to ensure all the pieces are lightly covered - enough so a shallow pool forms.

3.) Quarter the lemon, squeeze lemon juice all over the chicken, then bung in the lemon bits.



4.)Roast for thirty five minutes on gas mark 6/200 degrees.

5.) Remove from the oven, tip in a glass of wine (pictured wine is very firmly Eastern European, called something like Château T-34), and heat the roasting tin over a low heat on the hob until the wine bubbles. Then remove and serve with a green salad or vegetables.



Delicious, quick, and probably cheaper than a Kiev.