This month's second Barefoot Bloggers recipe was Ina Garten's Butterflied Chicken, chosen by Stefany of Proceed with Caution.
I made this recipe early in the month, as I usually do, but forgot to take a picture of it. I thought, "No problem, it was good so I'll just make it again." But then last night when I was planning to make it, a good friend called with a crisis, and by the time I got off the phone with him it was late. I looked at Sweet Husband, said, "Screw it, we're not cooking," and we went to Free State instead. (And it was so good as usual!)
But, scheduling and photography complications aside, this was a good chicken recipe. As I've said in the past, I'm not generally a big fan of poultry, because it often ends up dry and tasteless. This recipe however, is moist and (especially if you love rosemary like I do) quite tasty. I did it with chicken breasts instead of the whole chicken. (I like things on the spicy/flavorful side, so I did not necessarily reduce the other ingredients accordingly.) I also pan-browned and baked it rather than using a grill.
Check out Melissa and Prudy's posts for some nice pictures. For the recipe, read on.
Butterflied Chicken (by Ina Garten)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves, plus 2 sprigs
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
- Good olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 roasting chickens (2 1/2 to 3 pounds each), deboned and butterflied
- 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced
Mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.
Place the chickens on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each chicken. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens.
Turn the chicken skin side down and scatter the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary over each chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roll each chicken up, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
Heat a grill with coals. Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Unroll the chickens, place them on the grill and cook for 12 minutes on each side. (Note from Meryl: Alternatively, brown in a large skillet with a few tablespoons of olive oil. Finish cooking in a 350 degree oven for roughly 20 minutes, or until the meat is opaque and the juices clear.)
