“My favorite fall meal has to be a simple roasted chicken. There is just something about roasting your own chicken and vegetables that screams 'fall' and 'home' to me.” - Chrissy Teigen
The absolute best way to enjoy a whole chicken is to spatchcock it. What is spatchcock you ask, let me break it down for you (no pun intended).
The spatchcock (or butterflying) technique, drastically cuts the time it takes to smoke, roast, or grill a whole chicken. During this process you’ll remove a chicken's backbone so that it lays flat. This process is really fantastic. You’re able to evenly distribute seasonings all over the protein, and enjoy your bird at a much quicker rate than keeping it whole.
Spatchcock Smoked Chicken
This spatchcock smoked chicken goes through a lengthy preparation process. A two-day wet brine, followed by a two-day dry brine, ensures that the flavor of this chicken goes all the way down to the bone. Our dry brine is a sweet, spicy, and herb seasoning blend that gives this chicken such a unique flavor. In total this chicken has a four-day seasoning process before hitting the smoker.
When smoking this chicken, the goal is to have a nice hearty flavor. A mixture of mesquite and hickory wood is used during the cook time. This gives the protein a nice smoke flavor while promoting all of the wonderful sweet, spicy, and herb notes that the chicken was marinated in.
Linden Vineyards, 2016 Claret
2016 Claret
My recent trip to Linden Vineyards was a dream, and one of my absolute favorite wine trips during this pandemic. Their wines are simply lovely, but one of the standouts was their 2016 Claret.
This is a medium bodied red wine, and you’ll smell an abundance of raspberries, earth, and herbs on the nose. One of the descriptors Linden's winemaker used for this wine is 'sun kissed' - you most certainly can taste the ripe red fruit on this wine, giving it a well rounded body with subtle tannins.
This Claret is comprised of the following grapes:
50% Cabernet Sauvignon
25% Merlot
14% Cabernet Franc
11% Petit Verdot
The tannins on this wine are very soft, but present. Also, the acidity is almost refreshing, a compliment really to a smoked or roasted chicken. This pairing was really lovely, and the blend of four grapes were so balanced and a joy to drink.
I’d pair this wine with roasted or smoked chicken, braised lamb shanks, or grilled portobello mushrooms.
XO, Analise