Spatchcocked Grilled Chicken from All Stirred Up

 This month many of us are figuring out how to celebrate in small gatherings. We want to provide cheer without too much fuss. A festive holiday meal should feature a main dish that impresses. Spatchcocked Grilled Chicken fits that bill to a “T” as we say. 

I’m hosting Progressive Eats this month.  My theme is Celebrating Suffrage, in honor of my book, All Stirred Up: Suffrage Cookbooks, Food, and the Battle for Women’s Right to Vote. A few months ago, my book launch post featured the Suffrage Cookbook brownies. This time, I’m opting for a savory treat.  Spatchcocked grilled chicken is simple, yet tasty. If you don’t have a grill handy, you can bake or roast the chicken. 

The recipe (below) gives the details. But to whet your appetite, here’s a video featuring my beloved, who is an expert at spatchcocking (don’t go running for the dictionary – I made that word up) and grilling. 

Women’s Suffrage – More Fascinating Than You Might Guess

All Stirred Up is filled with history of the suffrage movement, recipes from the suffrage cookbooks, explanations for how the suffragists’ interest in food fit into the then-popular home economics movement – and perhaps most interesting of all, a timeline.

The timeline shows what else was happening in the U.S. and the world, as well as in food, during the suffrage battle.

• Did you know that Oreos pre-date women’s right to vote? (Nabisco sold the first Oreo in 1912, and the U.S. constitution did not include the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote until 1920.) 
• Do you know which was the first country to enact women’s suffrage and when that happened? It was New Zealand in 1893, more than two decades before U.S. women won our suffrage battle. 
• And how about what two companies began in 1903, the year that the Wright brothers flew at Kitty Hawk? Hint – These two companies changed how Americans ate and moved around. The companies are the the food business that became Kraft Foods and the Ford Motor Company. 

In All Stirred Up you can find out many more facts like these, what was going on around the suffragists as they battled, and how the suffragists and women’s suffrage changed the world . 

The original recipe is called “To Broil Chickens” and it comes from The Woman Suffrage Cookbook, published by Hattie A. Burr of Boston in 1886. The recipe author was Mary A. Livermore (1820-1905.) A social reformer, writer, and public lecturer, Livermore worked for a number of causes, including abolitionism, temperance, suffrage, and aiding poor and working class women. She founded a number of organizations and headed several, including the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association. For two years, she was also the editor of the national Woman’s Journal, a suffragist weekly founded by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Blackwell.

To Broil Chickens.

Cut the chickens open on the back, place them on the meat-board and pound until they will lie flat on the gridiron, then broil them over hot coals for twenty minutes or more, until they are a nice brown; turn them frequently, and do not burn them. Put the liver, heart and gizzard in a stewpan, add a pint of water for each chicken and boil until they are tender and can be chopped very fine. Then to this add butter, pepper, salt, and a little flour for thickening, with a cup of sweet cream if you have it. When the chickens are done, dip them while hot in this gravy, put them back on the gridiron over the coals for a minute, taking care that they do not burn; then place all in the gravy, allowing it to boil up once, and sent to the table hot.

Mary A. Livermore

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Welcome to Progressive Eats, our virtual version of a Progressive Dinner Party. This month’s theme is a celebration of women’s suffrage, and our host is Laura who blogs at Mother Would Know.

If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a progressive dinner involves going from house to house, enjoying a different course at each location. With Progressive Eats it’s a virtual party. The host for the month chooses the theme and members share recipes on that theme suitable for a delicious meal or party. Then you can hop from blog to blog to check them out. So come along and see all of the delicious and inspired dishes!