Another simple, yet tasty, recipe for you roast chicken dinner lovers. Roast a spatchcocked chicken on a bed of potatoes, shallots, garlic, lemon, and herbs in this simple but flavor-packed one-pan dinner—which we all love for the convenience and clean-up.
From Food & Wine: “A savory roast chicken dinner is an elegant weeknight staple, especially if it all comes together in one baking dish. This version is styled after the dripping, spinning, deeply aromatic poulet rĂ´ti that’s found in nearly every Provençal marchĂ©. Potatoes, shallots, garlic, and lemons are arranged under the bird. As the chicken roasts, the rendered fat coats the potatoes with savory drippings and mingles with the dry white wine and fresh tarragon, while the herb sprigs soften and release their aroma and flavor.”
TIPS: Make sure to pat chicken dry to remove any excess moisture. This ensures that the chicken will have a crisp, golden exterior. If you don’t have access to fresh tarragon, or simply don’t like its delicate licorice-like flavor, feel free to use fresh rosemary or thyme instead.
Not familiar with spatchcocking? It is a technique where the backbone is removed so the bird lays flat for an evenly cooked, golden-brown chicken with delicious, crispy skin. Ask your butcher to do this for you or use sharp kitchen shears or a chef’s knife to remove the backbone easily.
We found (as some reviewers also noted) that some of the baby potatoes and shallots were not melting soft like the others. That seemed odd to us because the spuds were quite small, even halved, and they should all have been equally tender after an hour in the oven. We surmised that perhaps the shallots and potatoes under the poultry were the culprits.
To avoid this happening, roast all of the potato/shallot/garlic lemon mixture first for 15 minutes before topping with the chicken. OR, place a rack above the veggies for the chicken allowing the hot air to get to all of them.
Instead of placing your sprigs of herbs on top of the potatoes and shallots, you will get more flavor from mixing the leaves of the tarragon (or other herb) directly into the vegetables. This change is noted in the directions below, although the photos do not indicate this step.
Roast Chicken with Potatoes, Shallot, and Lemon
Ingredients
- 1 (3 1/2- to 4-lb.) whole chicken
- 3 3/4 tsp. fine sea salt, divided
- 1 tsp. black pepper divided
- 1 1/2 lbs. baby new potatoes (about 1 inch in diameter), halved if larger
- 10 medium shallots, halved
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 2 small garlic heads (unpeeled), halved crosswise
- 2 lemons, halved
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 4 fresh tarragon sprigs, OR rosemary OR thyme, leaves removed from stems
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Pat chicken dry using paper towels. Place chicken, backbone side up, on a cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut along each side of backbone; remove and discard backbone. Flip chicken breast side up, and push down on breast to flatten. Sprinkle chicken all over with 2 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes. (Alternatively, refrigerate, uncovered, on a wire rack set inside a baking sheet until skin is dried, at least 8 hours or up to 12 hours. Remove from refrigerator, and let come to room temperature, about 1 hour.)
- In a 9- x 13-inch ceramic baking dish or braiser, toss together potatoes and shallots with 2 tablespoons olive oil, remaining 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add garlic and lemon halves, and toss until lightly coated in oil; arrange garlic cut side down in baking dish. Drizzle with wine, and sprinkle in tarragon leaves.
- Roast for 15 minutes before placing the chicken breast side up, over mixture in center of baking dish; drizzle with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Roast in preheated oven until potatoes are browned and very tender and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion of chicken registers 165°F, 55 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove from oven, and let chicken rest 10 minutes. Squeeze garlic cloves from skins into baking dish, and toss with potatoes. (Discard garlic skins.) Squeeze lemon halves over potatoes; discard lemons. Serve warm.
Recipe by Rebekah Peppler for Food & Wine
Accounting for Taste 