Food and prop styling by Goldie Stern
Photography by Moshe Wulliger

A whole chicken just presents well, and I also love that a spatchcocked chicken is much more hands-off than smaller pieces of chicken, which require all that pesky flipping.

SERVES 4

• 1 whole chicken
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat grill to 400°F (200°C).

Place the chicken on your workstation with the legs down on a cutting board and the neck facing you. Using a sharp pair of kitchen shears, cut along the spine, using the neck as a guide for thickness. It should be fairly easy to cut. Cut along both sides of the spine until it’s fully detached. Reserve the spine for chicken broth or stock.

With the skin side up, flatten the chicken on your workstation, using the palm of your hand to break the breastbone (the bone between the two chicken breasts). If you don’t hear or feel it crack, flip the chicken over and cut the breastbone with the kitchen shears.

Rub chicken with oil and with all the spices and herbs. You can grill immediately or allow the chicken to marinate in the refrigerator up to overnight. Grill bone-side down over indirect heat for 40–50 minutes or until the thickest part of the chicken breast and thigh both read 165°F (74°C) on a meat thermometer. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

(Originally featured in Family Table, Issue 747)