Cast Iron Roasted Butterflied Chicken & Potatoes

 

 

I am a huge fan of cookbooks. I had a large collection of them in the U.K.  Some of which I had been collecting for many years. I had to leave all that behind when I came back to Canada. Since then I have replaced some of them and bought a few newer ones.

I recently purchased a cookbook entitled The Prairie Kitchen Cookbook.  It was written by Kayla Lobermeier of Under a Tin Roof.  I have been following her on Instagram for a while now and when she announced she had published her cookbook, I decided it was worth purchasing.

 

I was not wrong, like her Instagram, and blog for that matter, it is filled with lovely photographs and some really delicious sounding recipes.  Today's chicken was inspired by one of the recipes in the book. 

 

Her recipe was for a Buffalo seasoned roasted butterflied chicken. I confess I am not overly fond of Buffalo anything as I find it too spicy, so I took the liberty of adapting her idea of how to roast a chicken and used my own flavors.

The chicken is butterflied and rubbed with some succulent flavors and then roasted on top of some halved baby new potatoes in an iron skillet.  Because it has been butterflied it cooks much quicker than it would otherwise and the potatoes gain a lot by having roasted in the chicken juices. Mmm  . . .  some good.

 

Instead of a buffalo rub, I used my BBQ chicken rub. I also didn't use any beer. I used chicken stock. Other than that I pretty much followed her direction and inspiration.

The end result was a perfectly cooked chicken with a crisp and flavor filled skin, some pretty succulent roasted potatoes that had been  roasted in the chicken juices along with some sliced onion and garlic. She had used shallots, but I did not have any shallots in the house.

It was not overly hot here today so I thought it might be a lovely last chance to do something like roast a chicken before the dog days of summer hit and I won't want to be turning on my oven for love nor money!

 

 

WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CAST IRON ROASTED BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN AND POTATOES

As written according to  my changes, some very simple ingredients. There is nothing out of the ordinary here.

For the dry rub:

• 1 TBS mild chili powder (In the UK use only about 1 tsp)
• 2 TBS sweet paprika
• 1 TBS salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 TBS soft light brown sugar

For the chicken:

• 4-5 pound (1.8-2.3 kg) whole chicken, neck and giblets removed
• 6 TBS (90g) salted butter, melted

You will also need:

• 1 lb. (454g) small new potatoes, halved
• 1 small onion peeled, halved and cut into thin half moons
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 TBS light olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock

 

You will not need all of the dry rub. It is a BBQ flavored rub and will go with all sorts, but I especially like it with chicken and pork. You will only be using 2 TBS of it.  You can store the remainder of it in an airtight jar in a dark place for up to 6 months.

I got very lucky with the chicken. I just happened to be in the store one day and they had a couple of whole chickens marked down by 50%.  They were the organic free from roasting chickens as well. I grabbed one and my sister grabbed one. 

At half price it cost me less than $10.  Not bad for a quality whole roasting bird. It was a great economy because not only do I get to enjoy it on the day of roasting, but I will also get several more meals from it. 

 

HOW TO MAKE CAST IRON ROASTED BUTTERFLIED CHICKEN & POTATOES

Butterflying a chicken is not as hard as it sounds. If you have a good sharp pair of kitchen scissors they will make short work of it. Everything else is a doddle.

Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/gas mark 7. Put a large iron skillet (12 inches wide) or the bottom of a Dutch oven into the oven and leave to heat for at least 30 minutes.

To make the rub, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. You will not need all of this. Remove 2 TBS for the chicken and then place the remainder into an airtight jar and store in a dark place for up to 6 months.

 

Pat the chicken dry all over and then flip it over until the underside is facing up. Using a good pair of kitchen scissors cut along either side of the spine to remove the back bone. Discard or freeze to make soup at a later date.

Turn the chicken back to right side up. Press down with the heel of your hand to flatten it out a bit. Carefully separate the skin from the breast of the chicken without tearing. Rub about 1 tsp into the flesh of each breast and return the skin to cover it completely. Rub the remainder of the rub all over the chicken.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Add a dollop of light olive oil, about 2 TBS. Add the potatoes, onions and garlic. Stir them all together to coat and then spread out in a single layer. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.

 

Place the chicken topside up on top of the potatoes to cover, tucking the wing tips underneath so that they don't burn.

Brush a third of the melted butter over top of the chicken and beneath the skin. Pop into the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven carefully and brush another third of the butter over the chicken. Return to the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes. Repeat once more. (The chicken will have roasted for 60 minutes at this point.)

Remove from the oven. Pour the stock in and around the potatoes. Return the pan to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken reaches the temperature of 165*F/74*C. The drumstick should also turn easily in its socket and the juices run clear.

Tent with some aluminum foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving. Serve each person a portion of the chicken with some of the potatoes and your favorite vegetable on the side.

 

As you can see the chicken is cooked beautifully and those potatoes are lovely and golden and filled with loads of flavor.  The chicken is moist and delicious. No need for a gravy, although you can certainly spoon some of the pan juices over top if you wish.

I chose to serve this with a simple vegetable on the side.  Peas and carrots, tossed with a bit of butter, some salt, pepper and parsley. This was to be honest a most delicious meal!

 

If you are as big of a fan of the yard bird as I am, you might also enjoy these delicious chicken recipes.  All of them come highly recommended.

PORTUGUESE STYLE ROAST CHICKEN - Portugal is known for its lovely spicy roasted chicken. There is a whole chain of restaurants in the UK  called Nando's that sell only this type of chicken. It is delicious. A bit spicy, but incredibly delicious. This is my take on that!

SWISS STYLE CHICKEN - This is a very simple dish. Tender moist chicken topped with a creamy mushroom sauce and Swiss gruyere cheese.  Delicious served with baby peas and homemade roasted oven wedges.  

Cast Iron Roasted Butterflied Chicken & Potatoes

Yield: 6

Author: Marie Rayner

Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 1 H & 20 MInactive time: 10 MinTotal time: 2 Hour

If you are a fan of succulent, perfectly cooked roast chicken with beautiful flavors and sticky roasted potatoes, you have come to the right place. This chicken is all that and more.

Ingredients

For the dry rub:

• 1 TBS mild chili powder (In the UK use only about 1 tsp)
• 2 TBS sweet paprika
• 1 TBS salt
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 TBS soft light brown sugar

For the chicken:

• 4-5 pound (1.8-2.3 kg) whole chicken, neck and giblets removed
• 6 TBS (90g) salted butter, melted

You will also need:

• 1 lb. (454g) small new potatoes, halved
• 1 small onion peeled, halved and cut into thin half moons
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 TBS light olive oil
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 cup (240ml) chicken stock

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425*F/220*C/gas mark 7. Put a large iron skillet (12 inches wide) or the bottom of a Dutch oven into the oven and leave to heat for at least 30 minutes.
2. To make the rub, mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. You will not need all of this. Remove 2 TBS for the chicken and then place the remainder into an airtight jar and store in a dark place for up to 6 months.
3. Pat the chicken dry all over and then flip it over until the underside is facing up. Using a good pair of kitchen scissors cut along either side of the spine to remove the back bone. Discard or freeze to make soup at a later date.
4. Turn the chicken back to right side up. Press down with the heel of your hand to flatten it out a bit. Carefully separate the skin from the breast of the chicken without tearing. Rub about 1 tsp into the flesh of each breast and return the skin to cover it completely. Rub the remainder of the rub all over the chicken.
5. Remove the skillet from the oven. Add a dollop of light olive oil, about 2 TBS. Add the potatoes, onions and garlic. Stir them all together to coat and then spread out in a single layer. Season lightly with salt and black pepper.
6. Place the chicken topside up on top of the potatoes to cover, tucking the wing tips underneath so that they don't burn.
7. Brush a third of the melted butter over top of the chicken and beneath the skin. Pop into the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven carefully and brush another third of the butter over the chicken. Return to the oven and roast for a further 20 minutes. Repeat once more. (The chicken will have roasted for 60 minutes at this point.)
9. Remove from the oven. Pour the stock in and around the potatoes. Return the pan to the oven for a further 15 to 20 minutes or until the chicken reaches the temperature of 165*F/74*C. The drumstick should also turn easily in its socket and the juices run clear.
10. Tent with some aluminum foil and leave to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving. Serve each person a portion of the chicken with some of the potatoes and your favorite vegetable on the side.

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