Fall recipes: Butterfly roasted chicken with roasted vegetables

October 14, 7:35 PMPhoenix Farmers Markets ExaminerSarah Parkin

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Phoenix Farmers Markets Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Find extreme comfort to the senses by roasting a butterflied chicken with potatoes and onions. The aroma that permeates the house welcomes everyone. The neighbors will wish it was their house that wonderful smell is coming from. The big secret is that it is one of the easiest dinners to make.

Butterfly roasted chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 to 3 1/2 pound chicken
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions (get a visual on the steps):

While it sounds fancy, butterflying a chicken is easy, and the chicken will cook more quickly than a traditional roast chicken. All that is involved is taking out the backbone of the chicken. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. The first step is rinsing the chicken inside and out. The next step is finding the backbone. If a chicken is set in the position of a traditional roast chicken, it is laying on it’s back and the legs are sticking up. Turn it over, and the spine runs right up the middle. Take a kitchen shears or a knife and cut up both sides of the spine to remove it. Throw it away. (Okay- if you are a purist, save it for making homemade stock.)

Now the hard part is over. Turn the chicken back over so the skin side is up. Press down with your palms on the middle of the chicken to flatten it out. Done.

Rub the chicken with some olive oil, salt and pepper. Pop the chicken in the oven and set the timer for 40 minutes. Longer if it is a larger chicken. (The U.S.D.A. says a thermometer should read 170 degrees for a roast chicken.)

Meantime, prepare the potatoes and onions. It’s okay here to add any other vegetables lurking around in the back of your fridge. Especially root vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, etc. Just make sure everything fits in one layer on the pan or the vegetables end up steaming instead of roasting and the crispiness doesn’t develop.

Roasted vegetables

Ingredients:

• 5-6 russet potatoes (or whatever you have in the house)
• 2-3 large onions, sweet ones if you have them
• 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper
• carrots, parsnips, turnips, garlic, optional

Directions (get a visual on the steps):

Cut up enough potatoes and onions to create a single layer on a half-sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Add salt and pepper. Pop in the oven along with the chicken.

They both cook for roughly the same amount of time.