Eigensinn Chicken on the Spit with Wild Grape Sage Sauce

Adapt this recipe for the grill by butterflying the whole chicken and cooking 30 minutes each side, beginning breast side down, until the skin is golden and the juices run clear.

1 small chicken
1 Tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Leaves from 2 sprigs sage, finely chopped
Leaves from 1 sprig thyme, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Wild Grape Sage Sauce

Bones from 1 chicken
2 Tbsp (30 mL) olive oil
3 onions
2 carrots
1/2 stalk celery
1 1/4 cups (310 mL) Gamay Noir
6 cups (1.5 L) chicken stock
1 garlic clove
15 black peppercorns
10 juniper berries
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp (2 mL) chopped sage, plus more for garnish
5 oz (150 g) wild grapes
1/3 cup (80 mL) maple syrup

A few hours before grilling, rub chicken with olive oil, garlic, sage, thyme, and salt and pepper. Refrigerate until grilling fire is ready. Build a fire with apple wood and, when the wood turns to coals, push chicken onto a rotisserie spit and roast, adding pieces of wild grape vines to the fire bit by bit as you turn the spit. Maintain a slow fire throughout roasting, about 1 hour. Chicken is ready when skin looks golden and juices run clear. Remove from fire and let sit 10 minutes before carving.

To make the sauce, preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Chop chicken bones into walnut-sized pieces and place in shallow, ovenproof pan with olive oil. Roast until bones begin to brown, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add onions, carrots, and celery and continue roasting until golden brown. Remove pan from oven and place over high heat. Add Gamay Noir and deglaze. Add chicken stock and bring to boil, skimming off fat. In mortar and pestle, crush together garlic clove, peppercorns, juniper berries, and bay leaf. Add to pan along with sage. Cook slowly for about 1 hour. Pour sauce through fine sieve into clean saucepan and return to medium-high heat to reduce liquid until thickened, about 5 minutes.

In another saucepan, combine wild grapes and maple syrup, cooking over medium heat until a glazed consistency develops, about 5 minutes. Place mixture in blender and blend until smooth, then strain through cheesecloth. Add grape pure to chicken sauce at the last moment, along with chopped fresh sage leaves. Serves 4.

source: "Eigensinn Farm", alive #310, August 2008