Herb Roasted Spatchcock Chicken

This is the very first time I spatchcocked a chicken. I was horrified at first, but I knew I wanted to give it a shot, knowing that it would be out of my comfort zone. I have cooked a while chicken before, but never actually butchered it to cool it the way I did with this herb roasted version. I have to say, it is way less intimidating than I imagined.

Where did the term "spatchcock" come from?

The back story to this term actually is pretty cool. Spatchcock comes from the Irish phrase, "Dispatch the cock," which meant to throw a simple and easy chicken dinner together. There's also another possible interpretation that this term comes from spitchcock, which meals to cut an eel in halves in order to fry it. If you are interested, you can read more here. Ultimately, spatchcock really means to butterfly, and that's literally the action of this kitchen skill.

Why bother spatchcocking a chicken?

Well, a few reasons:

• It helps the chicken cook evenly on all sides rather than crisping on top and soft and wet on the bottom.
• Spatchcocking a chicken actually cuts the cook time good amount. This recipe asks for a fully cooked chicken in just under an hour.
• It's actually way easier to cut the chicken parts when serving after it cooks. The legs and wings simply separate without much hassle.

Spatchcock Kitchen Tools:

The only important tool I recommend is a good pair of kitchen shears. This helps cut the spine out cleaner and easier. I also like having kitchen shears handy because it's good to cut the other parts of the chicken and to cut any excess skin. Fun fact: I hate chicken skins.

How do I make this recipe?

This recipe calls for very minimal ingredients, because you don't need much to make this chicken dinner delicious! You'll need:

• 1 young whole chicken
• 3-4 tbsp butter, room temperature
• 3 tbsp seasoning of choice
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Fresh thyme

You'll start by preheating the oven to 375º and double line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Take the whole chicken and pat dry. Find the spine along the middle of the back. Using kitchen shears, cut on each side of the spine and remove the spine. Save for stock! Turn the bird over and locate the breast bone (toward the middle of the chest cavity. Turn the bird over again, this side breast side up. Place the palms of your hands into the center of both breasts and press down firmly. You will hear a crack, which means the breastbone is released and the chicken will lay flat. Season and dress chicken as you'd like and prepare for baking according to directions for recipe. From here, mix the butter and seasoning together and spread across the entire bird. Lay breast-side up on the baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes.

You are going to love making this easy, delicious done-in-no-time dinner. Something we did with the leftover chicken breast is we made chicken salad. That recipe will be verryyyyy soon (hint: ITS PHENOMENAL).