Wowowow chicken! and low carb, too

It’s not normal to dream about fried chicken, or even about hot bread, but people on restrictive diets often do. I guess being gluten sensitive means missing out on those starchy foods all your life, so I don’t know why I should feel sorry for myself. But I did.

All the rotisseried chickens and grilled chops and roasted lamb aside, I still missed those crunchy, spicy and salty versions. This won’t stop you dreaming of hot bread, but it should wipe those dreams of fried chickens right off your mind.

I received a sack of hazlenut meal, or what in Italy would be called farina di nocciole, two years ago from eg. I experiment with it now and again, but I forget about it a lot and probably have missed out on making terrific cookies or crusts or something, just because I’ve no experience with the base ingredient. Saturday, however, I had this yen for Pollo fra Diavolo, that spicy good thing I make using spatchcocked or butterflied chickens. The trouble is that when I have left out the breadcrumbs, the spices just don’t make that peppery crust that makes it pollo fra diavolo instead of baked chicken.

For once the brain produced the image of the hazlenut flour lying around lazy in the freezer. I tried it, and it’s wowowow good. The only change besides the missing crumbs is that I did not use mustard to hold them on because I didn’t want to kill the nutty flavor. That’s definitely the right thing to do. Next time I will do it in pieces like fried chicken and it will be better than Popeye’s.

Wowowow Low Carb Chicken
serves 2 to 6 depending on size

1 chicken, spatchcocked
1 cup (250 ml measure) ground hazlenuts
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne or peperoncino in polvere

Preheat oven to 475° F / 245°C
Mix the nut meal and spices together on a flat plate. Clean the chicken thoroughly. Wash it in cold water and give it a couple of shakes, then dredge it thoroughly on both sides in the nut meal mixture. Turn, scoop and press with your hands until the chicken is covered really well on both sides. If you have time, let it rest 30 minutes or so before cooking. This makes the crust stick better.

Place it skin side up on a shallow ovenproof pan. Cook at that high temperature for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the inner thigh meat measures 165°F / 75°C. Remove from the oven and allow to sit 10 to 15 minutes, then carve using a sharp knife.

I think smaller chickens work best and I really can’t tell you how long it takes to cook a big version of this, so you will be dependent on your instant thermometer if you cook a chicken that is much above 2 pounds or 1 kilo. I’ve always increased the number of chickens instaed of the size of the chicken. I have made up to 25 at a time, although in a much bigger oven than the one in this house.

I doubt my ability to tell you how delicious this is. I cut off a wing and ate it standing by the sink and all I could say was, “Wow, wow, wow! Is this good!” I don’t see the point, especially in a country where hazlenuts grow wild, of using breadcrumbs ever again. If I run out of hazlenut meal, I’ll use different nuts and grind them myself.

I think eg bought these in Trader Joe’s, but I’m not sure. If you don’t have one of those, try organic coops and so forth, but do buy some and do try this wowie zowie chicken. You won’t be sorry, even if you aren’t dieting and have never dreamed of fried chicken.