Roast Chicken with Ratatouille (Better than Spatchcocking!)

Today I want to show you a technique for roasting a deconstructed whole chicken that works better than spatchcocking. Making a leg roast and a breast roast gives you full control of doneness. No part of this chicken is a compromise. Every bit is tender and juicy. It's also easier than Open up the legs, crack the spine, and voila! You can cook these to roast any which way. Lately, my go-to method has been roasting on a rack over a skillet full of veggies. This has many advantages over roasting directly in a skillet. The first is a tremendous reduction of smoke without dropping the oven heat, and the second is having a built-in side dish without dirtying another pan. Any veggies will do the trick, but since it's the end of summer, I am going for a ratatouille mix. Normally, ratatouille requires pre-salting and browning of the vegetables, but here we can skip these steps since the high heat of the oven and chicken drippings will give our veggies plenty of browning and flavor. Are you ready? Let's cook! Choose a chicken that is roughly 4 pounds and if possible, air chilled. My guide to buying chicken is linked below. Let's trim the wings and save the tips for stock. Now dangle the chicken by one leg to stretch the skin between the leg and the breast and cut through the skin close to the leg. We want to give as much skin to the breast as possible. Cut through the skin all the way to the spine going around this most delicious nugget on the back called the oyster. Open up this first leg until it pops open at the joint. Repeat it on the other side. Cut through this flabby skin under the breast and trim big chunks of fat around the thighs. Crack the spine right above the legs, cut through the remaining flesh and skin, and you have the two roasts. All the breast cleanup is optional, but it has its benefits. At the top of the breast, there is a big chunk of fat. Removing it will result in thinner and in my opinion, tastier skin. Wiggle your fingers under the skin to separate it. This will allow you to salt the chicken under the skin making dry brining more effective. In other words, you'll get a more tender and juicy breast. Removing the wishbone is completely optional. It makes the chicken easier to carve after it's cooked since I need a pretty picture for the video of a nice breast with an attached wing. Removing the wishbone is worth it this time, but normally I don't bother. I feel very strongly the chicken breast has to be salted the night before and if possible under the skin to be tender and juicy. You've probably heard of this technique. It's called dry brining. Salt will change the structure of the protein reducing how much the muscle contracts and squeezes out the water during cooking. Once you get some salt under the skin, reach in and spread it out. Pull back the skin and salt the bottom of the breast as well. Salt the wings, the back, and the cavity, but not nearly as heavily as the breast. The salt I am using is diamond crystal kosher. Here is how it compares to other salts. You can use whatever salt you want, but you'll need to adjust the volume. For this kind of task, the salt isn't measured. You really just need to go with your gut here and adjust next time. To improve browning, I am going to use my not so secret weapon, the grilling glaze. You can skip it, but your chicken won't be quite as brown or flavorful. For the glaze, we'll need 1 garlic clove grated on a microplane zester, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp pomegranate molasses. Alternatively, you can use ½ tsp of balsamic vinegar and ½ tsp of honey, and 1 tsp of Dijon mustard. Mix it all very well and then slowly drizzle in 1 tbsp of a neutral oil like grapeseed while whisking constantly until the mixture thickens. I like to stir in some za'atar mixture for aroma, but that's completely optional. You can also try dry oregano. Drizzle a little of this mixture all over the chicken and rub it in. Normally, I apply this glaze right before roasting, but I heard from a few of my viewers that it's hard to judge the amount. Too much and the chicken burns. Too little and it doesn't brown as well. To solve this problem, let's apply the glaze in advance. Just the right amount will penetrate the skin and then will dry off everything else tomorrow before roasting. Don't try to use all the glaze. You need very little. The leftovers can be refrigerated and used for some other project. Cover the chicken with plastic and put it in the fridge overnight. Drying out the chicken in the fridge is tricky business. Most recipes suggest keeping the chicken uncovered in the fridge for as long as 24 hours. From my experience, it results in the skin being too stiff after roasting. It's possible that all the fridges are different. In my fridge, I don't like to dry it for more than 8 hours, and even that is completely optional. If you remember, the following morning, remove the plastic wrap, dry the chicken, and put it back in the fridge. If not, it's not a biggie. The skin will still be delicious. Convection fan is really useful for this dish. If you have it, set your oven to 450 degrees. If you don't, set it to 475. These temperatures are just suggestions for what to try the first time. All ovens are different, so adjust as needed in the future. Roughly an hour before serving, preheat your oven with a rack in the middle and prep the veggies. I'll use a bell pepper cut into strips, a few summer squash quartered lengthwise and cut into half inch pieces, half of a red onion sliced pole to pole, a few sliced garlic cloves, a few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, stemmed and minced, and some small tomatoes cut in half. All the measurements are up to you. The goal is to create a layer of vegetables in your pan that is roughly 1 inch deep. I like to use a 12 inch pan with straight sides because it allows me to fit the most veggies. Add some pepper, salt, olive oil, and mix well. Place a flat rack on top. Dry the chicken exceptionally well inside and out. Even if you dried it earlier that day, dry it again to make sure it browns. Rub the chicken all over with a tiny amount of neutral oil and place it on a rack skin side down. Place the pan in the middle of the oven and if you have a convection fan, turn it on. Roast until the top browns lightly, about 15 minutes. Flip the breast roast by picking it up by the wings. Flip the leg roast by picking it up by the bones of the drumstick. Oil the skin side lightly and return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the skin is nicely browned. Take the temp of the legs and the breasts. You want to pull the legs out around 175-180 and the breasts out around 130. My legs are done at this point, but my breasts need another couple of minutes. Once the skin is nicely browned, turn off the convection fan and reduce the oven to 400 degrees. Ok, now my breasts are ready to come out. Make sure you insert a thermometer into the thickest part and then fish around in there to find the lowest temperature. Try multiple spots and be careful that you've found the minimum internal temperature and not just some internal temperature. Mismeasuring the temperature of the breast is a very common mistake. Look below for a detailed video of how to do it correctly. Once the breast is done too, put the legs back on the rack and set the rack over a plate. Leave the thermometer in the coolest part of the breast during the resting period. Turn up the oven to 500 degrees. Turn the convection fan back on if you have it and return the veggies to the oven until they are nicely browned. This will take about 5-10 minutes. The breast normally needs to rest for about 15 minutes anyway, so the timing works out well. Taste the veggies and correct the seasoning with a splash of balsamic vinegar or some other form of acidity and salt. I like to finish them with a little butter as well. Once the temperature in the breast gets to 150F, hold it there for 4 minutes. At this point, it's USDA level of safe and you are ready to serve. 165F recommendation is a way to overprotect the general public who doesn't know how to use thermometers and timers correctly. The link to the detailed USDA guidelines for food service professionals are in the description below. The guidelines for chicken are on page 37. If you want to assign this point of view on this topic, check out Minute Foods video linked below. This is a very tender and juicy chicken and as you can see, it's completely opaque. Even the most conservative diner wouldn't be squeamish about it. Make sure you save the carcass and every single bone for stock. I freeze them in gallon size Ziploc bags and once I accumulate 2 bags, I make stock. Pour the chicken juices over the veggies. Slightly pink juices are perfectly normal, especially if your chicken was air chopped. Place the chicken on top and enjoy. Crispy skin on a roast chicken is a myth. Even if it's crispy out of the oven, it will soften out as the chicken rests assuming your chicken is juicy. I am ok with that, but if you are not, here is an idea. When the chicken is rested and ready to serve, brown the pieces briefly in a bit of neutral oil. You will lose some juiciness this way, so I don't normally do it, but you can try it and decide for yourself. Here are more thought provoking culinary videos for you to check out and if you are ever in the Boston area, maybe I'll see you in one of my classes.