In The Kitchen

In The K tchen Spatchcock Roasted Lemon Herb Chicken

By Naomi Nachman

This is my favorite way to prepare and cook a whole chicken. On my cooking show, “Sunny Side Up” on Kosher.com, I had my friend, Ahuva Gottdiener (@homegrownkosher on Instagram), show us how to make her delicious sheet pan spatchcock chicken recipe. Ahuva shows us how to remove the backbone and cook the chicken flattened out and butterflied for even cooking. As an added bonus, this recipe also includes a builtin side dish. It really is a “winner, winner chicken dinner!”

Ingredients

b 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (watch Ahuva’s appearance on my show

“Sunny Side Up!” on Kosher.com to learn how to do this or buy it already spatchcocked at Gourmet Glatt) b 1-pound tiny baby potatoes (or 1-pound regular baby potatoes cut into 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch pieces) b 1-pound real baby carrots (NOT baby cut carrots) cut if necessary so no part is more than ½-inch thick b 7 shallots, quartered b 1/3 cup minced parsley b 10 sprigs thyme, 5 left whole, leaves removed from 5 b 6 whole peeled cloves garlic, smashed b Zest of 1 lemon b 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided b Kosher salt b Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Mix parsley, lemon zest and thyme leaves that were removed from the stem and set aside. 2. Place carrots, shallots, potatoes, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, and freshly ground black pepper on a baking sheet and drizzle with two tablespoons olive oil. Mix well and spread out evenly. Place garlic cloves and whole sprigs of thyme on top of vegetables in the center third of the pan. 3. Drizzle spatchcocked chicken with remaining two tablespoons olive oil and rub into both sides of chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Rub with herbs and lemon zest on both sides and under skin where you can (reserving about two tablespoons of the herb mixture). 4. Place chicken, skin side up, in the center of the pan, rearranging the thyme sprigs and garlic cloves if necessary so they are underneath the chicken. Sprinkle reserved herb mixture over vegetables that are not covered by the chicken. 5. Bake at 400°F for 50 minutes to one hour, until chicken breast is 165°F at thickest part. 6. Carve chicken and squeeze lemon juice over everything before serving.

Naomi Nachman, the owner of The Aussie Gourmet, caters weekly and Shabbat/ Yom Tov meals for families and individuals within The Five Towns and neighboring communities, with a specialty in Pesach catering. Naomi is a contributing editor to this paper and also produces and hosts her own weekly radio show on the Nachum Segal Network stream called “A Table for Two with Naomi Nachman.” Naomi gives cooking presentations for organizations and private groups throughout the New York/New Jersey Metropolitan area. In addition, Naomi has been a guest host on the QVC TV network and has been featured in cookbooks, magazines as well as other media covering topics related to cuisine preparation and personal chefs. To obtain additional recipes, join The Aussie Gourmet on Facebook or visit Naomi’s blog. Naomi can be reached through her website, www.theaussiegourmet.com or at (516) 295-9669.