I’m not too familiar or comfortable roasting whole chicken. But now that I’ve learned the technique of spatchcocking a chicken, life’s become soooo much simpler! All this time I thought “spatchcock” was a type of poultry bird (face palm). Spatchcocking refers to a technique of prepping whole chicken by removing its spine and flattening it so that the breast and thigh/leg all cook at the same time (reducing the risk of the breast drying up). This is also a great way to prep chicken for grilling. 

Directions

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  1. Spatchcock the chicken (here’s a good video with clear instructions on how to do this).
  2. Wash and pat dry the chicken.
  3. Prepare the spice rub by mixing all the spices together in a bowl.
  4. Drizzle 2-3 tbsp of olive oil on the chicken and rub to coat evenly.
  5. Reserving 1-2 tsp of the spice rub for the veggies, sprinkle and rub the remaining spices on the chicken. If you’re preparing the chicken in advance, refrigerate it until you’re ready to cook. Make sure you take the chicken out of the fridge at least an hour before roasting so it’s at room temperature.
  6. Preheat the oven to 220C.
  7. Keeping the garlic head intact, peel the outer layer (leaving some skin on). Cut 1/4″ off the top to expose the garlic cloves.
  8. Chop the remaining vegetables into even sized chunks (not too small). Place them and the garlic in a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining teaspoon of the spice mix. Pour in the chicken stock.
  9. Set a roasting rack on top of the vegetables, and place the chicken (skin-side up) on the rack.
  10. Place the chicken and veggies in the oven and roast for 10 minutes. Turn the oven down to 180C and roast for another 45 minutes. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature has reached 75C (165F) when pierced at the joint between the leg and the body.
  11. Rest for 15 minutes and then serve.
  12. While the chicken is resting, if the vegetables look soft (and not roasted enough), place the veggies back into the oven to continue to roast for another 10 minutes. You can skip this step if the vegetables look done. This would depend on how large you cut your vegetables.
  13. The garlic should be soft and sweet now. I like to squeeze it out of the skin and toss into the vegetables.
  14. Place the chicken in a serving platter as a whole, or carve it before serving.

This recipe was inspired from A Beautiful Plate’s Middle Eastern Roast Chicken.