Roast chicken is a great, easy comfort food for these cold winter nights after shoveling, playing in the snow or running around all day. I decided change it up a little and try spatchcocked chicken. This was my 2nd attempt. The first attempt was not so successful. I cooked it on a bed of roasted veggies and after 70 minutes on 375, the inside was still raw! I ended up have to throw out the veggies and just saute the chicken. Second attempt I roasted flat on the roasting pan and upped the temperature to 400. Spatchcocking definitely doesn’t save time, but it did cook evenly.
Herb Roasted Spatchcocked Chicken
Ingredients
1 – 8 to 12 pound chicken, spatchcocked (here is a tutorial from Martha Stewart)
4 tablespoons of olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon of salt (leave out the salt if you brined the chicken)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil in the bottom of your roasting pan. Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place chicken, breast side up on the roasting pan. Rub remaining olive oil on the chicken. If you still have the packet of chicken livers/heart and neck, take them out of the paper and place next to the chicken (trust me, even if you don’t like eating those parts, they make the gravy SOOOO good!). Spread the herbs, pepper and salt (if using) all over the chicken. Roast for 75 to 85 minutes, turning the pan once about 30 minutes in. Check with a meat thermometer to ensure it is cooked through (165 to 170 degrees and juices run clear). Place on serving platter and cover with foil while you make the gravy.
Pan Gravy
Ingredients
Pan drippings from roasted chicken
3 Tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1 ½ cups chicken stock
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 Tablespoon of spicy brown mustard
1 Tablespoon of corn starch
2 Tablespoons of butter
Directions
Place the roasting pan over two burners on medium-low. Add the vinegar, chicken stock, syrup and mustard to the pan drippings and whisk together. Keep liver, heart and neck in the pan, while mixing these flavors together. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove the liver, heart and neck and whisk in the corn starch and let it cook for 5 more minutes. Then add the butter. Pour through strainer before serving if you have lumps.
This is great with gnocchi , mashed potatoes, or polenta. These green beans or peas would round out the meal!
I really enjoy sharing with you what I cook for my family. It is something that brings me a lot of joy. It makes me even happier to know that others are reading and enjoying the blog. Thanks to Mamapedia for profiling me this week!! Please let me know know if you want to see anything or have a family recipe that needs to be made gluten free.
