Buttery Spatchcocked Chicken with Asado Potatoes

Buttery Spatchcocked Chicken

• Author: Anya Fernald

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Ingredients

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• 1 (3 pound) chicken, backbone removed
• salt
• 3 Tablespoons salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
• 2 lemons, cut in wedges
• For the Asado Potatoes
• 4 large russet potatoes
• 12 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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Instructions

1. The night before you want to serve the chicken, place it on a work surface, skin side down. With a sharp knife or a pair of poultry shears, cut down along both sides of the backbone and remove (save for making broth). Once the backbone has been removed, use the knife or scissors to remove the keel bone, the flexible wedge of cartilage at the tip of the breastbone that connects the chicken breast to the skeleton. Discard the keel bone. Flip the chicken over and open it like a book. With the heel of your hand, press firmly on the backbone to flatten the chicken. Season the chicken on both sides with 2 tablespoons of salt, transfer to a rimmed baking sheet, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
2. The following day, remove the chicken from fridge, rinse well with cold water, and pat dry with paper towels.
3. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Put the chicken skin side up in a 12-inch cast-iron frying pan or roasting dish large enough to accommodate it without bending.
4. Dot the skin side of the chicken with the butter, then transfer to the oven and roast, basting occasionally, until the chicken skin is deep golden brown and the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes, then cut the chicken into eight pieces and transfer to a platter. Drizzle with accumulated pan juices, season with salt, and serve with wedges of lemon.
5. For the Asado Potatoes, they also cook at 425 – 450 F. Wash and scrub the potatoes and, with a mandoline or sharp knife, slice the potatoes into 1/8-inch-thick slices and put in a bowl. Toss with half of the butter, then arrange the potatoes in a spiral in a 10-inch cast-iron pan. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Roast the potatoes until tender and brown and crispy on top, about 45 minutes. You can increase the heat in the oven to 450F when you remove the chicken to rest for the final 10 minutes. Remove from the oven, pour the remaining butter over, and season to taste with additional salt and pepper. Serve hot.

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Notes

• If you prefer, you can grill the chicken over a medium-hot fire, flipping the chicken after about 20 minutes, then adding lemons cut side down to the grill and cooking for an additional 15 to 20 minutes on the second side, until the leg joint is loose and a meat thermometer in the leg joint registers 160 F.
• Not Included in Large Real Food Box: Butter (except for 3-5 boxes), Pepper, Salt

Excerpted from Home Cooked: Essential Recipes for a New Way to Cook by Anya Fernald with Jessica Battilana, copyright © 2016, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC. Photography copyright © 2016 by Brown W. Cannon III.