Dispatch the Cock (Spatckcock Cornish Game Hens)

This last weekend I spatchcocked my first game hen! This was a very fun and surprisingly simple way of grilling a whole bird without having to cut it down into small parts. Of course knowing me I turned to my trusty Google to learn more about this cooking technique and here is what I found out…

According to Alan Davidson in his ""The Oxford Companion to Food," (an encyclopedia about food published in 1999 ) spatchcock is a culinary term, traced to the 18th and 19th centuries and revived toward the end of the 20th century. It is said to be of Irish origin and thought to be an abbreviation of "dispatch cock," a termed used to indicate a way of grilling a bird after splitting it open down the back and spreading the two halves out flat. The term spatchcock also appears in  Francis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, first published in 1785.


To spatchcock a chicken, you need a sturdy pair of kitchen shears. Place the chicken, breast-side-down, on a cutting board. Using the shears, cut away the backbone and discard it. Then, flip over the bird and press down to flatten it. On smaller birds you can stop there. On a larger bird you may want to cut out the keel bone (breast bone) prior to flattening. Season the bird as desired and grill over a medium heat,  skin side down on lightly oiled grates. Use a baking sheet and 2 foil covered brick to weigh down and flatten the bird while grilling. Not having foiled covered bricks  handy and a little reluctant to head out to the Home Depot before making dinner, I opted to use my trusty cast iron pan.  Grill the bird for 8 to 10 minute with the grill cover open before flipping it over.  Once the bird has been flipped cover the grill and cook until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees on your handy meat thermometer and the juices run clear.
My meat thermometer states 180 degrees for poultry yet the cook book advises 165 degrees. You be your own judge on that one. Juices running clear is a good indicator that your chicken is done. Just be careful not to dry out the meat.  If you are leaning towards the 180 degrees, you may consider cooking on an indirect heat after flipping. We pulled ours off at 165 degrees with the juices running clear and it was truly the  best tasting spatchcocked game hen I have ever had.

A Little Pink in Your Pork Chop is Okay Today (Apple Cream Glazed Chops)

For the “other white meat”, pork if not cooked properly is not as nearly as forgiving as chicken. Who here hasn’t served a overcooked, dry, tough piece of pork that resemble a worn out piece of shoe leather?  The juicy piece of meat you originally intended to serve is now being hacked away at with forks and knives, gnawed at or smothered in a sauce to add some moisture. I am just guessing here, but I am sure this is how applesauce came to be paired with pork chops. The moist sweet applesauce would add moisture  and flavor back to the pork, rendering it eatable. In my opinion, this really isn’t honoring the animal that it came from.

Pork of today is very lean with very little fat. Cooking at too high of a temperature or for too long (which was usually my m.o.) can dry out the meat. The problem here is, we have all been trained that pork must be cooked until it is white thru out, just as chicken ,or we risk getting sick.  Except, cooking your pork until the center is white will surely guarantee you a dried out tasteless piece of meat.  So what’s with the bad advice? If it is known that cooking the pork this long will dry it out why was it ever advised?

Trichinella, that is why! 

As this is a food blog and I hardly want to gross you out and ruin your appitiete before you even read the recipe.. I will simply advise you, if you really want the details on that one, Google it.    I think that best rather than my explaining it here.  But keep in mind, before you swear off pork altogether or continue to cook the living daylights out of it,   pork is  getting an unfair bad rap for this one. According to the CDC’s Trickinellosis Surveillance --- United States, 1997 –2001;  Most reported cases of  Trichinella  came from eating wide game. Only 12 of the 72 cases in the 5 year study were associated with eating commercial pork. 9 cases with noncommercial pork.  If you think about how much pork is consumed each year here in the US and only 21 people came down with this desiese in  5 years;  I would say the odds are in our favor that we really have nothing to worry about. So go ahead and eat the pork. You have better odds of getting in to a car wreck on your way to work then getting sick eating pork.  Simply put, the pork you and I buy from the store has been grain fed under strict guidelines, therefore, Trichinosis has been virtually eliminated.
 
That being said,  there still are some strict guidelines that must be adhered to when cooking pork as with all meats. The culprit is bacteria that can be introduced into the meat thru the butchery process.  You can treat pork as you would whole cuts of beef, as long as the sides are seared adequately then there should not be any problems with bacteria.  You must also be careful not to cross contaminate your work space or utensils.  Ultimately, the best way to protect yourself against any food born yuckiness is to cook your meat to the correct temperature not color. The USDA recommends that pork be cooked to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees. Therefore, I little pink in your pork chops is okay today.

Apple Cream Glazed Chops

2-4 boneless pork chops

2 tbsp e-v olive oil
S/P to taste
1/8 tsp granulated garlic

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tbsp butter
1/2 C packed light brown sugar
2 medium granny smith apples
1/2 pint heavy cream
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
 
Pre-heat your grill or use a stovetop grill pan over medium heat. In medium sauce pan and over medium heat melt butter and brown sugar until is starts to caramelize. Add cored and sliced apples and stir frequently until the whole mixture is caramelized. Stir in  Cream and cinnamon, cover and remove glaze from heat.  Rub pork chops with olive oil and s/p to toast. Sprinkle with garlic and red pepper flakes.  Grill chops for about 7 minutes per side or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. Remove chops and plate onto a nice serving platter. Let rest for at least 5 minutes. Pour glaze and apples over chops and enjoy!