Barefoot Bloggers: Butterflied Chicken

The second August Barefoot Bloggers recipe was Butterflied Chicken, chosen by Stephany of Proceed with Caution. I had to make some modifications . . . the original recipe (below) calls for grilling the chicken, but since we were having monsoon-like rain, grilling wasn't an option. So I decided to roast it in the oven, and also decided not to debone the chicken.

Ina Garten's Butterflied Chicken
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
(or 1 chicken - about 4.5 lbs. - butterflied but not deboned)
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.

I followed the recipe up to this point (see below for my alternate cooking method).

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.

My method: Instead of proceeding as directed, I put the chicken in a roasting pan, skin side up, baked it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then 325 degrees for about 40 minutes. I made sure it reached at least 165 degrees internally.

I was happy with the end result - the chicken was seasoned well, slightly crispy on the outside and moist inside. I'm sure it would have been equally good on the grill!

(Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten/www.foodnetwork.com)