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Spatchcock with spicy escabeche dressing

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Escabeche is a classic Mediterranean marinade used to lightly pickle meat or fish while infusing it with spice.
Escabeche is a classic Mediterranean marinade used to lightly pickle meat or fish while infusing it with spice.Supplied

This roasted spatchcock is best served warm or at room temperature, when the meat is most succulent and the fragrance of tarragon, paprika and saffron is in the air.

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Ingredients

  • 4 poussin, size 5, ask your supplier to spatchcock the birds (removing the back bone)

  • 12 eschalots (golden shallots), unpeeled

  • 2 bulbs garlic

  • 100ml extra virgin olive oil, plus a little extra

  • 2 large tomatoes, very ripe

  • 2 punnets cherry tomatoes

  • 2 pinches saffron threads

  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds

  • 1 tsp sweet smoky paprika

  • 2 tsp ground cumin

  • salt flakes

  • freshly ground pepper

  • 2 fresh bay leaves

  • 120ml sherry vinegar

  • 2½ tbsp brown sugar

  • ½ bunch tarragon

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.

    Cut the unpeeled eschalots lengthways and toss into a roasting pan with the whole garlic bulbs. Drizzle with the extra oil and roast for 30 minutes.

    Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Squeeze out the garlic pulp and peel the skins off the eschalots. Increase the oven temperature to 200C.

    To skin the tomatoes, bring a pot of water to the boil. Score a cross in the base of the large tomatoes and in half of the cherry tomatoes (use the others unpeeled) and drop them into the boiling water for 30 seconds. Remove and refresh in cold water. The skins should slip off easily. Chop the large tomatoes, leaving the cherry tomatoes whole.

    To make the sauce, in a large wide-based saucepan over medium heat, add the 100 millilitres of oil, the chopped tomatoes, the peeled and unpeeled cherry tomatoes, the eschalots and the garlic paste and cook, stirring, for a couple of minutes. 

    Add the saffron, spices and bay leaves, season with a little salt and stir for another minute. 

    Add the sherry vinegar and brown sugar and cook for another five minutes. Don't over-reduce; the sauce should be quite loose and the cherry tomatoes should hold their shape. Take off the heat but keep warm.

    Place a large frypan over high heat. Season the birds with salt and pepper and lightly oil. Sear the flattened poussin, skin side down, for three minutes on each side. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

    When the birds are nearly cooked, gently warm the sauce, add the picked tarragon and check the seasoning.

    Remove the birds from the oven and lay on a serving platter with any roasting juices. Immediately pour over the warm dressing and rest for five to 10 minutes before serving.

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