I’ve had a whole organic chicken in the freezer for a while and I finally decided to use it up for Sunday dinner. I came up a hybrid Martha/Lucinda Scala Quinn method for cooking it. I have Lucinda’s book, MadHungry (which is great) and have seen both her and Martha spatchcock (I know it sounds obscene!) a chicken on the Martha show (spatchcocking means you cut out the backbone and flatten the chicken to cook it – it cooks much faster this way). I combined this method with the idea in November Everyday Food to cook carrots and potatoes in the pan with chicken parts and with Lucinda’s pan sauce for her spatchcocked chicken in her book. 
So, first I cut out the backbone and flattened the chicken. I put it insides down in a roasting pan and surrounded it with carrots and baby red potatoes. I seasoned the chicken with rosemary, salt and pepper and some roast chicken seasoning I got from my mom. I put the salt and pepper and rosemary on the veggies, as well as some olive oil and roasted it all in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes (until the chicken was 165). I removed the chicken 
and carrots and stuck the roasting pan on a burner with the potatoes still in it – I wanted them a little crispier. When they were done, I removed them and added a few tablespoons of olive oil, 2 chopped cloves of garlic and 2 tbsp lemon juice to the pan. I cooked it long enough to soften the garlic then served it.
This was AMAZING. First of all, it’s so much faster than a regular roast chicken and feels less fussy. The pan sauce was fabulous and so incredibly simple -something about the lemon and garlic is just to die for. We ate the sauce on both the chicken and on the potatoes. It was perfect. I highly recommend this dinner!!!
Martha and Me 
You did it again, you made me hungry for dinner when it is only breakfast! I like my roasted chicken a bit browner than what this appears to be. Did you notice a difference in the taste because it didn’t brown as dark?
Alton Brown spatchcocked a cornish hen on a Foreman Grill on Food Network last night and it really did look amazing. Must try. 🙂
Very cool! I don’t have a George Foreman, but it sounds like a great idea.
Yes, it wasn’t as brown – Lucinda says to first brown it in a cast iron pan, which I don’t have and it’s an extra step. Sometimes Teen Martha and I like the skin, but it wasn’t the end of the world to skip eating it this time.
Wow–such a great concept. I love dishes that cook all together. And I didn’t know there was a way to speed up roasting a chicken.
Also–love your photos. They work well with the post!
Thanks! I finally got the new camera to work!
the sauce sounds great…you’ve got me thinking about that garlic and lemon combination
Oh my gosh – I cannot tell you how good this was. And I totally did not expect it to be. I thought it would be just ok, but man, it was wonderful!
My husband and I tried to spatchcock a chicken this summer and it was an absolute mess. Now I feel foolish since you make it sound so easy. So…maybe I’ll have to try again and hope for better luck. It looks delicious.
WOW!!! yummy! so delicious! I’m so hungry for dinner now…and I just had breakfast…I love the lemon-garlic combination. I often leave my chicken in olive oil, lemon, garlic, salt and pepper before cooking it. I love it! best flavour ever!
That sounds like a great way to add flavor.
Oh no! What happened? All I did was hack it in half and stick it in the oven.
I’ve been avoiding whole birds–I tend to just use the bag. But your recipe does sound doable. Maybe I’ll attempt it–or just salivate over your great photos here!
VERY easy to make
I just spatchcocked a chicken last night–only when I do it, I call it butterflying. But I think “spatchcock” is such a fun word that I may have to adapt it.
Anyway, YUM.
Yes, it makes me giggle.
I’ m Looking over your list of Martha’s greatest hits, and I see spatchcocked chicken! Which is what I was going to pick If I had not chosen clam chowder for my recent Martha Mondays pick. (10/18/2010). I was not sure about the chicken, so I figured picking the clam chowder would be safer. Well, I am so glad I found out this is a great recipe, and I will be making it. By the way, thank you for your list of greatest hits!
You’re welcome. The chicken is great and you have got to make Lucinda’s pan sauce. I’m going to make this again this weekend.