Spatchcocked Roast Chicken

Name: Spatchcocked Roast Chicken
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 large free range chicken; 1 tsp salt; 2 tsp dried thyme; 2 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp paprika; 1/2 tsp white pepper; to taste chilli powder, flakes or cayenne pepper,; black pepper

Joanne @JoanneinBath

Bath, UK

My daughter says she doesn't like roast chicken. Most of the time I ignore her and cook it anyway, but as she's in the middle of exam season I thought I'd try and do a kind of Nandos thing - she loves that - rather than classic roast chicken dinner. So I spatchcocked the chicken and marinaded it in a spicy rub for a few hours before roasting in a hot oven.

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Ingredients

1large free range chicken
1 tspsalt
2 tspdried thyme
2 tspsmoked paprika
1 tsppaprika
1/2 tspwhite pepper
to tastechilli powder, flakes or cayenne pepper,
black pepper

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Steps

1

To spatchcock a chicken place it on a wooden board in front of you upside down - breasts down, legs towards you.
2

With kitchen scissors cut along one side of the backbone, and then the other, then turn the chicken over and press down flat. Easy!
3

Mix the ingredients for the rub in a bowl. Place the chicken in a roasting tray, sprinkle the rub over and rub in with your fingers. Cover and refrigerate over night or for as long as possible before cooking.
4

Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6. Drizzle some olive oil over the chicken and toss a few unpeeled garlic cloves into the tin. Roast in the oven for 20 minute, then reduce the temperature to 180C/Gas 4 and cook for a further hour, until cooked through. Baste twice during the cooking time. If you wish to crisp and bronze up the skin turn the grill on for the final 10 minutes of cooking.
5

Rest the chicken for 15-20 minutes and then serve with coleslaw and fries (we skipped the fries as we were having gigantic slices of apple pie for dessert).

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Joanne @JoanneinBath

on May 15, 2016 21:20

Bath, UK

I enjoy cooking mostly because I like eating, but also because it's a great way to relax at the end of the day. I work in book publishing and especially enjoy creating cookbooks written by cooks who love cooking and sharing food rather than creating show stopping dishes that take days to put together. As Nigel Slater would say; 'we are, after all, simply making ourselves something to eat'. I live with my lovely daughter Isobel who rarely pays any kind of compliment but will occasionally admit something I've cooked was quite nice, and our dog Piper, who will eat anything.