Paul Mercurio's beer braised spatchcock

[amazon-product]174266542X[/amazon-product]This recipe is from Paul’s first cookbook, Mercurio’s Menu, published by Murdoch Books. You can buy Paul’s new book by clicking the link to the right.
Ingredients

• 6 spatchcocks (4 -5 one per person or 7 – 8 for half per serve)
• 12 slices of prosciutto
• Dried prunes and apricots 4 of each for each bird
• 2 Bottles of Franziskaner Hefe Weissbier a lovely cloudy German wheat beer.

Method

Wash and dry spatchcocks. Place prunes and apricots into cavity of bird and then wrap the prosciutto around the bird securing with toothpicks. Brown each bird on all sides in a hot pan with olive oil then place in a baking tray.

Pour beer into tray so that it comes about halfway up the side of the birds. The Hefe Weissbier is a lovely rich wheat beer with notes of banana and clove and other fruity and sour overtones that really complement the spatchcock.

Cover the tray with alfoil, tightly sealing the sides – use two pieces of alfoil so as to form a tent over the top of the tray. Once tightly sealed pierce the foil once only so steam may escape then place in a preheated oven. Cook at about 180 for approximately one and half hours to two hours. I like to cook it slowly but sometimes the joints don’t get enough heat to cook through, so check before serving.

Remove from the pan and keep warm. Pour the pan juices through a sieve and into a clean pan, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat to a hard simmer and reduce the juice down to about a third and it has a nice shiny consistency.

Place a bird on the plate or half a bird depending how you are serving it and drizzle some of the sauce around and over the bird.

Serve with a green salad and a side of risotto or a medley of seasonal steamed veg.