I get asked quite frequently “What’s your signature dish?” I reply with some sort of hemming and hawing until it hits me: roasted chicken. Roast chicken is one of those dinner’s that’s a gift that keeps on giving- everyone can get a piece of the bird that they like (white or dark meat) and you’re typically left with leftovers that have the best flavor the next day. When I roast a chicken, I typically gravitate towards Autumn spices (like fresh pomegranate and rosemary). My friend Andrea asked me to review her new cookbook and try one of her recipes. When I came upon this Autumn Roasted Chicken recipe I knew that would be exactly what I recreate.
Recipe originally found in Andrea’s Cooktales which you can purchase here or here.
I think what I love the most when going through Andrea’s book is that it’s filled with personal stories and lines where you can add cooking notes and your own recipes as well. She engineered the book to be a keepsake for you to enjoy as much as you would the Joy of Cooking- dog-earing the corner of pages of your favorite recipes and scribbling notes in the margins of the recipes.
When I first read the ingredients of this recipe, I was excited about experimenting with putting cinnamon on chicken. I haven’t added this spice to my traditional fall roasted chicken before, but with the bitterness of orange zest and the sweetness of the brown sugar, I figured it would be the perfect recipe for a roast chicken.
In Andrea’s book, she uses chicken breast to create her dish, however, I turned this into a spatchcock roasted chicken. I like to spatchcock my whole chickens now because it enables for quicker cooking and a succulent, crisp skin.
As this chicken roasts in the oven, your house turns into an Autumnal wonderland of smells with the combination of sweet and savory spices.
You can watch this video come to life below and subscribe to Darling Eats for more videos!
- 1 large chicken spatchcocked
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 4 tsp fresh orange zest
- 1 1/2 TBSP light brown sugar
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 tsp minced rosemary
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Place your cast iron skillet in a cold oven, set the oven temp to 450°F and bring the cast iron skillet to temp while you prep the chicken.
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To spatchcock your chicken, you simply remove the spin with a pair of kitchen shears (as seen here
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), then you'll flip the bird over and using two hands, firmly press down on the breast bone to crack it so that the bird lays flat.
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When your chicken has been spatchcocked, prepare your spice blend by combining the salt, black pepper, orange zest, brown sugar, cinnamon, garlic and rosemary in a small ramekin, mixing to combine well.
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Carefully remove the hot cast iron from the oven and set it on a trivet (to prevent damaging your countertops), and drizzle the bottom with 2 TBSP of olive oil.
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Generously dress your chicken with the spice rub, making sure to cover every inch of exposed skin. Don't worry about putting spices on the interior.
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Picking up the chicken by the drumsticks, carefully lay the chicken breast side down, ensuring that the entire bird lays flat with the legs tucked in to get maximum exposure to the hot skillet.
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Transfer the chicken to the oven and cook it on the middle rack at 450°F for 45 minutes.
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Remove the chicken from the oven, flip it over being careful not to rip the skin off of the front, and place it back in the oven to cook for an additional 10 minutes.
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Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes, and serve.
Watch this recipe come to life here on Youtube. https://youtu.be/Fv30n5cLI6s
Another yummy, making me hungry!
Let me know if you get the chance to try it! It ended up DELICIOUS!