Spatchcocked Smart Chicken

Spatchcocked Smart Chicken

As I’ve mentioned before, I cook a lot of chicken for dinner. My friend Lana teases me about it constantly, she says every time she calls I’m cooking chicken. That’s probably true. Sometimes I like to mix it up and do a little spatchcocked chicken in the oven. Spatchcocking is just as easy as it is fun to say it. Spatchcock! Spatchcock! Spatchcock! tee hee!  All this is an easy way to roast chicken that helps it to cook faster. Basically you just take your poultry shears and cut the backbone out of a whole chicken. Once the backbone is out push down on the chicken to break the breastbone. Because more of the surface of the chicken is in contact with the hot pan it allows the chicken to cook more evenly and quicker.

And then there’s this:  I went to my local neighborhood butcher for this chicken. It was labeled “smart chicken”, I didn’t ask what that meant because I didn’t see it on the label until I got home. When I chose it, it was not weighed and labeled. Does anyone out there have a clue what a smart chicken is? My first thought is that this chicken is not too smart, he sitting in my kitchen!

Smart?

Spatchcocked- Somewhat- Smart- Roast Chicken

Preheat the oven to 425°
Take a whole chicken- using your poultry shears cut on each side of the spine and remove the backbone.
Press down on the breastbone to flatten the chicken.
Brush the chicken with ghee or oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and the spices of your choice. For this recipe I used  fines herbs. (Finely chopped herbs, specifically parsley, chives, tarragon, and thyme, mixed together. I also peeled a couple of large potatoes and cut them into several spears, brushing them with ghee, treating  them the same way with the spices).
Place the chicken in an appropriately sized braising pan and arrange the potatoes around- it put the lid on and cook at 425° for 45 minutes or so.
Carefully remove the lid and place the chicken back in the oven for another 30 minutes or more/ less depending on how big the chicken is.
Use your thermometer to bring the chicken to the proper temperature, check both of the thigh and the breast. If the chicken is cooking faster than it is browning- increase the heat of the oven to broil and allow the chicken to sit underneath the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp the skin. (Keep an eye on it! You can overcook here very quickly) YUMMM! Easy chicken.