MEAT RECIPE

Chicken with Smoked Garlic and Beef Tallow

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups beef tallow for basting while cooking
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 lemon, cut in half
1 garlic bulb, unpeeled, cut in half horizontally
4 sprigs of thyme


Equipment

Fire pit
Butcher’s string
Garden wire
Campfire tripod and Butcher’s hook, or large stick

- Feeds 4 -

HOW TO MAKE IT

  1. Light your fire and let it burn down for about an hour until you obtain a medium heat.

  2. Place the chicken in a large bowl, add the paprika, salt, and a good spoonful of beef tallow, then massage the ingredients into the chicken. Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the lemon halves, garlic and thyme.

  3. Truss the chicken so it looks like a well wrapped present, using butcher’s string to start and then garden wire to finish – the aim of the game is to prevent the chicken falling into the fire.

  4. Place the tripod over the coals and hang the chicken (with its back to the fire), using a butcher’s hook, about 30 cm (12 in) above the coals. Cook the chicken for 2–3 hours, rotating every 20 minutes. In this recipe I rotated the chicken on a wooden stick, but each method works, depending on how creative you’re feeling. To keep it moist, baste with beef tallow occasionally as you are cooking.

  5. The chicken is cooked when it reaches an internal temperature of 75°C (167°F). Allow the chicken to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

  6. Use the leftover carcass to make soup or stock.