First: it's fun to say. Don't deny it, you giggle when you say it.
Second, and more importantly, it cooks faster, more evenly, and prevents leather breasts (you just giggled again), aka dried out chicken breasts.
And finally, it's impressiveness is inversive to it's ease.
Now, let's crack on.
The only essential ingredients here are chicken, butter or oil, and salt. You can use any spice blend or herbs that your little heart desires, and it's equally delicious with straight S&P. The baking soda in the recipe is also optional, but it lends to a crisp skin. I am trying out a spice blend from Minas Espresso Company, a local roaster near me. Their coffee is amazing by the way.
For Chicken
1 Whole Chicken, 4-5 lbs
1/4 pound Butter (1 stick)
3 Tbs Spice Blend (or skip)
For Seasoning (this is separate from what you season the butter with)
1 TB Kosher Salt (use 1 tsp for table salt)
1 tsp baking soda
2 TBS Minas Honey Chipotle Rub, or various spices that make up 2 TBS.
Roasted Veg
1 Whole head of garlic, top trimmed
3 or 4 lbs Roasting Vegetables, cut into large pieces, about 2 or 3 inches. Some vegetables can be left whole.
Use any good roasting vegetables such as carrots (left whole or halved), Squash (thick slices), potatoes (quarter), turnips (halved or quartered), parsnips, radish...
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. On roasting pan or cookie sheet with 1/4 walls arrange vegetables, including garlic.
Prepare your butter.
Cut butter into thin slices and lay flat to dust both sides with whatever spice blend you'd like, or just salt and pepper.
Prepare Seasoning for Chicken
Mix together your spice blend, salt, and baking soda in small dish and set aside.
Prepare the Chicken
Ok, here is a bit of controversy. I'm going to ask you NOT to wash your chicken. This can be a throw down topic, especially if it's ingrained in your culture. If it is, I'm not going to stop you. If you're a chicken beginner, please don't start this habit. It's a health risk, and tap water isn't going to get rid of anything a 450 degree oven will miss.
But you DO want your chicken as dry as you can get it. I find I need to dry it a few times during the process of prepping it. Just make sure before you season it... It's D.R.Y.
Spatchcock
Lay your bird breast side down and grab a good pair of kitchen shears, or well washed tin snips. Cut down either side of the backbone and pop that sucker out. Save it for the roasting pan or freeze for stock later.
Clean up any extra bits of skin and give it another dry. Tidy it up, that's all.
Flip the bird 😂 over and spread it out before leaning all you've got into the top of the place where the breasts meet to flatten it as much as possible.
Using your hands separate the skin from the meat to make room for the seasoned butter. Slide the slices of butter under the skin of the breasts, thighs and legs.
Season the chicken on both sides generously with your spice blend or a TB of Kosher Salt.
Carefully move your chicken, cut side down to rest on Vegetables in roasting pan. Tuck the wings under so they won't burn, and make her look pretty.
Roast at 450 for about 45 min. Or breast closest to bone reads 150 (or follow CDC guidelines if you're a chicken 🐔) and 175 at joint of thighs.
Let it rest for about 5 min. Until you can handle garlic. Remove chicken and Veg to a serving dish if you want to be extra fancy.
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of the skin and Smash and whisk into pan juices.
Cut breast and thighs into thick slices. Serve over vegetables and pan juices. A squeeze of lemon wouldn't be remiss here either.
