Cooking Lesson #64— Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

How you doin’? One of my favorite dinners is roasted chicken. When you have some extra time on your hands this is the perfect way to feed a family of 4 to 6 with very little effort. I don’t like to roast pieces and I don’t have the time or the inclination to mess around with a whole bird—so I ask my butcher to spatchcock it for me. No, I’m not talking dirty to you. It’s a difficult word to say with a straight face, I know.
 
No one can say for sure where this strange word came from—I checked it out. In The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson explains (in my best English accent), “The theory is that the word is an abbreviation of ‘dispatch the cock,’ a phrase used to indicate a summary way of grilling a bird after splitting it open down the back and spreading the two halves out flat.” Davidson further speculates that the word is Irish in origin, having seen the term in Irish cookbooks that date back to the 18th century. But go ahead call it “butterflied” chicken if that helps reduce the giggle factor.
 
I buy my poultry at Farmer’s Market Poultry at the Original Los Angeles Farmer’s Market. These guys will cut up poultry any way I (or you) like. I ask them to spatchcock the bird, leaving the wing tips on, removing the ribs and back. I want to bag up all the trim to freeze for when I want to make stock.
 
Prep time:  10-15 minutes
Brine time:  1-2 hours
Wet Rub time:  30 minutes
Cook time:  80-85 minutes
Yield:  4 servings
 
Ingredients:
For the brine
1-gallon cold water
2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon sriracha (or other hot sauce)
1 3- to 4-pound chicken
 
For the wet rub
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar  
4 tablespoons minced garlic salt
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon dry sage
1/2 teaspoon dry rubbed rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1/4 cup lemon juice
 
For the sheet pan prep
2 lemons sliced into rounds
1 large yellow onion sliced into ringlets
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
 
For the baste
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup lemon juice
 
Directions:

1. Marinade the chicken in the brine made with water, salt and sriracha for an hour or two.
2. Prepare the wet rub by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl.
3. Preheat your oven to 400⁰ F.
4. Pull the chicken from the brine; do not rinse it. Pat the chicken skin dry. Rub the whole chicken with the wet rub and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
5. Line a sheet pan with foil, add the lemon slices and onion ringlets, and drizzle everything with olive oil and lemon juice.
6. Place the prepared sheet pan in the oven to cook the onions.

To roast the chicken

1. After the wet-rubbed chicken has rested for 30 minutes, and being careful handling the hot sheet pan, place the chicken on the area of the sheet pan that is covered with sliced onion rings and lemon slices—push all the onions and lemons under the chicken. Tuck the wingtips under the chicken breast.
2. Roast the chicken at 400ºF for about 40 minutes. Rotate the pan every 15 minutes to ensure even roasting; baste the chicken with butter and lemon juice each time.
3. After 40 minutes cook time, increase the oven temperature to 450ºF and roast for about an additional 15 minutes to further crisp the skin.

Use a meat thermometer inserted at the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone, to check the temperature. It should be 165ºF when ready.

1. Remove the chicken to a platter or cutting board and loosely tent it with foil. If the foil tent is too tight, the steam will not escape and the skin will not be crispy. The internal temperature will continue to rise 5 to 10 degrees.

ChefSecret: Every oven and every chicken cooks differently, so be sure to check the internal temperature at the thigh to prevent over- or under-cooking.
If you’re buying packaged chicken at a supermarket, follow these directions to spatchcock it:

• Turn the chicken over, breast-side down.
• Using a pair of sharp heavy-duty kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone. Repeat on the other side of the backbone.
• Remove the ribs.
• Reserve the all the trimmings for making stock for gravy.
• Flatten the chicken further, press down firmly on both sides of the breastbone until you hear a cracking sound. Try to get the chicken as flat as you can.

#Spatchcock #Chicken #OvenRoastedChicken #Entrees #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19

---