Broiled, Butterflied Chicken

Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: A Bird in the Pan

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (74)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(74)

Cook Time:
30 min
Level:
Easy
Yield:
4 to 6 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 30 min
Total:: 1 hr 0 min

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Ingredients

1 1/2 teaspoons black peppercorns
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 lemon, zested
Extra virgin olive oil
Onions, carrots and celery cut into 3 to 4-inch pieces
3 to 4-pound broiler/fryer chicken
1 cup red wine
8 ounces chicken stock
2 to 3 sprigs thyme
Canola oil

Directions

Position the oven rack 8 inches from the flame/coil and turn broiler to high. Crack peppercorns with a mortar and pestle until coarsely ground. Add garlic and salt and work well. Add lemon zest and work just until you can smell lemon. Add just enough oil to form a paste.

Check out your refrigerator for onions, carrots and celery that are a little past their prime. Cut vegetables into pieces and place in a deep roasting pan.

Place chicken on a plastic cutting board breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, cut ribs down one side of back bone and then the other and remove. Open chicken like a book and remove the keel bone separating the breast halves by slicing through the thin membrane covering it, then by placing two fingers underneath the bone and levering it out. Turn chicken breast-side up and spread out like a butterfly by pressing down on the breast and pulling the legs towards you. Loosen the skin at the neck and the edges of the thighs. Evenly distribute the garlic mixture under the skin, saving 2 teaspoons for the jus. Drizzle the skin with oil and rub in, being sure to cover the bird evenly. Drizzle oil on bone side of chicken as well.

Arrange bird in roasting pan, breast up, atop vegetables.

Place pan in oven being sure to leave the oven door ajar. Check bird in 10 minutes. If the skin is a dark mahogany, hold the drumstick ends with paper towels and flip bone-side up. Cook 12 to 15 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Juices must run clear. Remove and place chicken into a deep bowl and cover loosely with foil.

Tilt pan so that any fat will pool at corner. Siphon this off with a bulb baster. (This fat is great in vinaigrettes). Set pan over 2 burners set on high. Deglaze pan with a few shots of red wine and scrape brown bits from bottom using a carrot chunk held with tongs. Add chicken stock, thyme, the remaining garlic paste and reduce briefly to make a jus. Strain out vegetables and discard. Slice chicken onto plates or serve in quarters. Sauce lightly with jus and serve.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
James London, KY 01-17-2010
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Juicy, flavorful and easy!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Following the advice of other reviewers, I allowed the chicken to reach room temperature before putting it under the broiler... and additional time to cook, (about 35- 40 minutes for a 4 pound bird). It cooked thoroughly and glazed nicely. Lacking old vegetables, (for once) I resorted to using fresh carrots and onions which made a nice accompaniment. I opted to use the remainder of the paste, (to which I added fresh basil) to mix into long grain rice. Read more
recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
Jeff Springfield, VA 01-01-2010
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Way better following "The Early Years" instructions
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

The first time I made this I followed the instructions here on the FN site. As others have stated, the cook times were way... off. Further, my jus just didn't taste right. All in all, it was a mess. Made it again tonight following the refactored application in AB's "Good Eats: The Early Years" book, and things went much smoother. The cook time was spot on and the jus was fantastic. The difference? The refactored application tells you to start with the chicken placed skin side down (on the veg) and broil for 25 minutes -- yes, 25 minutes, not 10 minutes and then keep checking. Once you flip to breast side up, you broil again for, you got it, 25 minutes, checking the breast temp for doneness as you go (I found 25 minutes was just right). Another difference in the refactored application is that the jus is to be reduced in the pan quite a bit more than stated here -- down to about 1 cup. Next, you pour the jus in a fat separator and pour off just the jus'y goodness onto the plate of cut up chicken. Great stuff. Oh, and I highly recommend AB's book too.Read more
recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
null null, null 10-10-2009
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Bit waste of time and energy
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

I roast chickens all the time. I've even butterflied them and cooked them on the grill, and I rarely have issues with timing... and heat. Cooked on the outside, raw on the inside (thighs/knees?) - even after an additional 20 minutes. And to be honest, the sauce wasn't even all that great, just ho hum. (Maybe I'm just used to really flavorful food...) Next time I'll just roast the darn thing without trying to butterfly it. On the plus side, though, Alton's instructions from "I'm Just Here For The Food," were A+. My family said the veggies were the best I'd ever cooked.Read more
recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
Marc Palmerton, PA 09-22-2009
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Yet Another Slam Dunk From Alton Brown
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This recipe was intensely flavorful. The butterflying idea was brilliant! It came out great under the broiler, but I'd love... to try this in the same style as the Good Eats Turkey (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/good-eats-roast-turkey-recipe/index.html). The high temp initial bake in that recipe is perhaps the biggest breakthrough in poultry baking in decades. Like the turkey recipe, I brined the chicken in this recipe to maximize moisture. An underrated facet of this fabulous recipe is its insanely low cost. The chicken cost me less than $4. A dinner for two for so little money is astonishing! AB once again shows why he is easily the star of the Food Network!Read more
recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
Atsu El Cerrito, CA 04-26-2009
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Super!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My oven took more minutes than written in the recipe, but the result was tastier than I ever imagined from reading the... recipe! It's a great idea to stuff garlic and lemon zest under the skin. My husband and I enjoyed every single bite of it. Because it's fennel season right now, I included a big bulb of it (chopped) in the vegetables. We ate all of the veggies in the end. I had to discard the burnt ones, but most of them came out tender and still flavorful. I looked up how to butterfly a chicken on You Tube. Very easy to do. Great recipe!Read more
recipe Broiled, Butterflied Chicken
null null, AL 01-27-2009
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My results
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I tried this for the first time yesterday, after reading the bad reviews here that mostly seemed to have a problem with... controlling the heat. I made mine in a 50's vintage gas oven, about 8 inches below the flame. I kept a close eye on the internal temperature (don't know how I ever cooked meat without the Pyrex digital temperature probe), along with how fast the skin was browning, then occasionally adjusted the height of the pan a little to try to get the temperature and skin color to both reach their targets at the same time. The results were very good & the skin was perfect. My only thought after the fact is to think about the internal temperature of the chicken before it goes into the oven. Having it closer to room temperature before it goes under the broiler probably makes a big difference in the cooking time. In any case, this is to me a great way to cook a whole chicken, and have leftovers that can easily be made into other dishes (chicken tacos tonight?)Read more