The All-Important Chicken

A spatchcocked roast chicken basted in its own reduced stock and butter, set over potatoes that catch every drop of drippings underneath. Nothing on the plate is a stranger to the bird — skin, fat, stock, and meat all circle back to the same chicken.

Serves 6 · as served on Bluesky ↗

Spatchcocking is the whole secret here — you cut out the backbone, lay that bird open flat like a book, and every square inch of skin hits the hot pan at once instead of the top browning while the bottom steams. I'm not wasting that backbone either, it goes straight into a little saucepan to build stock while the oven comes up to temp, so by the time the chicken's done, I've basically got chicken flavoring chicken flavoring chicken. Made a version of this for my sister-in-law Paula's retirement potluck and watched three grown men fight over the schmaltz potatoes underneath the bird, not even the meat. That's the whole idea of the dish — nothing on this plate isn't chicken in one form or another, stock, fat, skin, meat, all of it circling back. Roast it hot, baste it lazy, and let the potatoes catch every drop that falls.

Ingredients

Fresh

• 6 sprig fresh thyme (divided)
• 1 piece lemon (halved)
• 1 piece yellow onion (quartered)

Fridge

• 5 lb whole chicken (spatchcocked, backbone and wingtips reserved)
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter (divided)

Pantry

• 2 lb baby potatoes (halved)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 6 clove garlic (smashed)
• 2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Spice rack

• 2 tbsp kosher salt (divided)
• 1 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put the reserved backbone and wingtips from the whole chicken in a small saucepan with the low-sodium chicken broth, the yellow onion, and half the fresh thyme; bring to a bare simmer and let it build flavor while the oven heats. ⏱ 20 min
2. Pat the whole chicken dry and season all over, skin and underside both, with the kosher salt and black pepper; let it sit at room temperature while the oven finishes heating.
3. Toss the baby potatoes with the olive oil, the garlic, the remaining fresh thyme, and the remaining kosher salt; spread them in a single layer across the bottom of a heavy roasting pan or big cast iron skillet.
4. Lay the chicken skin-side up right on top of the potatoes, tuck the wings under, and dot the skin with half the unsalted butter; roast until the skin is deep golden and shattering-crisp and a thigh reads 165 degrees, basting once at the halfway mark with the pan juices. ⏱ 45 min
5. While the chicken roasts, strain the stock, pressing the solids to get everything out, and set it aside for the sauce.
6. Pull the chicken and potatoes out and let the chicken rest on a board for 10 minutes; meanwhile pour the roasting pan drippings into a skillet with the strained stock and the remaining unsalted butter, and simmer hard until it's glossy and reduced by about half. ⏱ 10 min
7. Finish the sauce with a squeeze from half the lemon; carve the chicken and shave a few pieces of the crispiest skin off for garnish.
8. Pile the schmaltz potatoes on a platter, lay the carved chicken over top, spoon the sauce over everything, scatter the crispy skin on last, and finish with a squeeze of the remaining lemon half.

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