Donna van Veghel-Wood graduated from the two year Culinary Arts Programme at George Brown College including three month Italian Culinary Arts programme in Italy. Worked for five and half years at "JK ROM" Restaurant and Catering company with Jamie Kennedy. Started and ran "donna&co." catering company for five years. Presently, owner of "frankie's ristorante" in Uxbridge.
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Birds by Julia
Julia Child: an amazing cook; a woman's activist in her own right; an endearing, enduring personality. I was influenced by Julia, as were many chefs that I have met. Most people don't come right out and admit that they are followers of Julia's culinary excellence; you just recognize it in their own cooking techniques. And that is a great tribute to a great lady.
Frank brought home a DVD at Christmas titled Julia Child - The Way to Cook. These are cooking lessons by Julia from her kitchen, teaching you everything you need to know to cook in your own kitchen. This includes everything from soups, salads, breads, vegetables, meat and poultry. While watching the tape one quiet afternoon, the lesson on 'Butterflied Grilled Birds' inspired Frank to take the reins at the kitchen stove that night. These are also called 'Flattened Grilled Chickens' or 'Flattened Bird under a Brick'. Whatever the name, they are delicious.
Using a whole small chicken - two to three pound fryer - cut the backbone out of the bird. You can use a knife or a pair of good kitchen scissors to cut up one side of the backbone and then the other side. Save the backbone for stock. Lay the bird out flat on a board, skin side up and press down on the middle to flatten the bird out. Rub the bird all over with a good olive oil and season with Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Put a tablespoon of olive oil in a frying pan - and lay the bird in the frying pan, bone side down with another heavy pan on top of the chicken to keep it flat. Cook on medium-high heat for about 20 minutes and then turn over and cook another 20 minutes or until the juices run perfectly clear. Check often to prevent scorching.
If you don't have a second heavy fry pan, cover a brick with foil and use it as the weight on top of the chicken. This is the method that is used frequently in Italy.
An alternative cooking method is to place the flattened chicken on a baking pan and cooking in your oven on broil halfway down from the top of the broiler. Cook until the juices run clear. Laying the flattened chicken on a bed of fresh rosemary or other fresh herbs delivers an aromatic bird while cooking under the broiler.
Whether on top of the stove or under the broiler, when your flattened chicken is cooked, remove it to a platter and let it rest for 10 minutes under foil. Meanwhile, remove as much fat from the pan without removing the delicious chicken juices. Deglaze with white wine or white Vermouth (Julia's favourite) - about a quarter cup - and scrape up the bits left in the pan. Cook five more minutes until the wine has reduced by half and add a tablespoon of butter. When the butter has melted serve your 'Reduced wine sauce' with your 'Butterflied Grilled Birds.' You will feel like Julia herself. Bon appetit!
