My son loves to host our family’s Easter dinner, but he waits until only days before to decide on the menu. Typically, he calls, pondering choices, aloud with me on the phone. Our conversation this year went like this. Should he serve traditional leg of lamb–no, he exclaims the kids (the 11 and 13 year old) and his wife are not big fans! Baked ham–scratch that since we had it last year! Roast beef tenderloin–oops that was our Christmas main course. Finally, I offer a suggestion. What about spatchcocked roast chicken? After a long pause, he requests the recipe!
Earlier this month I taught a cooking class in which students learned to master the simple technique of spatchcocking a whole chicken. You remove the backbone with a pair of kitchen shears and then open the chicken out like a book and press down on the breast to flatten it. Prepared this way, the chicken cooks more quickly and evenly, a big advantage on a day like Easter Sunday. Continue reading
