Spiced Spatchcock Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce

A sweet and spicy summery BBQ sauce made with fresh peaches coated over a crisp spatchcock style chicken. 

Disclosure: I’m proud to be a member of the 2018 Unilever Agent of Change Master Class. As an original member of their inaugural class in 2015, Unilever brought back members throughout the years to form the master class. Today’s post is sponsored by Unilever. 

It’s peach season here in Virginia, and despite your best intentions, there are times when you just might have let your peach purchasing get a little out of control. Don’t get me wrong – It starts out very controlled and logical. You get your basket at the roadside stand.  You pick six peaches out for the week. And then you’re like…”Wait, I should make pie. Or cobbler. Or ice cream.” So you add more. And then you think “I should freeze some! Or give them to a neighbor!” And then you realize there are multiple varieties of peaches and they all need to be sampled. At this point, you have acquired a partial share in said roadside stand and you quickly realize you need as many recipes as possible that utilize peaches. Especially recipes that are not peach desserts.

Here’s how to use peaches at dinner: BBQ sauce. This recipe uses two entire peaches (you’re welcome) and makes a sauce that you will want to use for every chicken dish for the rest of the summer. You can whip it up at any time since most people have ketchup on hand. You have to start with good ingredients for this BBQ sauce: seasonal peaches, spices and really good ketchup. Sir Kensington’s® is new to me, but I’m an automatic fan (also go try their ranch dressing- SO GOOD). Their ketchup is always made without artificial colors, ingredients and preservatives and uses wholesome ingredients (actual ripe tomatoes with vinegar and spices) with big impact since they also use less sugar than other ketchups. Sir Kensington’s® is also paleo-friendly, gluten free, non-GMO and kosher if you’re looking for any of those markers as well.

I’m a fan of using fruit in sauces during all seasons. I use it to make chili in fall and winter and BBQ sauce in the summer. Using stone fruit or berries or figs provides a note of acidity and sweetness in a sauce that is more complex than honey or using citrus alone. It also adds fiber (So sorry. Sometimes you just can’t shake the dietitian habit). With this spicy, tangy and sweet BBQ sauce that radiates summer, thanks to peaches, we’ll be using it on a whole chicken. But, don’t worry! We’re using the spatchcock method for this whole chicken meaning we flatten it to make it cook a bit more evenly. It’s much easier than you think, and as a bonus when you’re done with the chicken you can use the leftovers to make chicken stock.

Spatchcocking a chicken just takes a good pair of kitchen shears. It lets you really get seasoning everywhere across the meat and I highly recommend you use this method for any kind of spicing beyond this recipe. BBQ spice rub? Or maybe rosemary salt in fall? Yes. Use this method. So get out your kitchen shears and let’s have at it.

Spiced Spatchcock Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup Sir Kensington’s® Ketchup
  • *note for a spicier BBQ, use Sir Kensington’s® Spicy Ketchup
• 2 medium peaches, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 Tablespoons Maille® Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 1/8 teaspoon all spice
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 1, 4-pound whole chicken
• Fresh Tarragon
• Fresh Mint

DIRECTIONS

1. In a blender, or an immersion blender cup, add sauce ingredients. Puree until completely smooth.
2. Set aside 1 1/4 cup of sauce in fridge for serving.
3. To prepare the chicken: Preheat oven to 475 F. Prepare a sheet pan with a rim and a wire rack on top.
4. Place chicken breast side down, spine side up on a meat cutting board. Remove giblets from chicken cavity.
5. Use a sharp pair of kitchen shears and cut out the spine by cutting on either side of the spine (save for stock or discard).
6. Flip chicken over, cut side down and use both hands to crack the wishbone, making the chicken nearly flat.
7. Place on top of wire rack. Tuck wing tips under so as not to burn.
8. Using a pastry brush or a spoon, coat chicken with 3/4 cup of sauce, distributing evenly.
9. Place sheet pan in the middle of the oven at 475 F for 10 minutes. Chicken will brown.
10. Reduce heat to 400 for 35-40 minutes or until the thickest part of thigh has an internal temperature that reads just under 165.
11. Serve with additional reserved BBQ sauce and chopped fresh tarragon and mint.