Butterflied Roasted Chicken With Mustard/Lemon Sauce

If you haven’t roasted a whole chicken with the “butterfly and flatten” techniques before, consider doing so for these simple and absolutely mouthwatering reasons: 1) by opening up the chicken, all of its parts are exposed on the upper side while roasting and therefore all of the chicken’s skin stays crisp.  2) a flattened chicken will roast more evenly because all of its parts reach the perfect cooking point at the same time, thus keeping it moist and juicy throughout.

It is very easy to  butterfly a whole chicken at home, but your butcher will do a better job in flattening it (and even breaking some of the bones), with a professional meat hammer.

Whenever Butterflied Roasted Chicken  is on the menu, I always serve it with a simple but delicious homemade Mustard/ Lemon sauce that perfectly compliments the chicken.

How to:

To remove the backbone from a whole chicken, place it breast side down and use kitchen shears to cut on the right of the tail all the way up to the neck. Repeat the process cutting from the left of the tail.  You can keep the leftover piece to make chicken broth.

Flatten the chicken by pressing hard with your hands or alternatively use a meat pounder to break as many bones as possible. Again, your butcher can easily butterfly and flatten the chicken, for you.

Season generously with salt, pepper and plenty of oregano.  Drizzle some lemon juice and olive oil.  Roast into a pre-heated 425°F oven  for 10 minutes, reduce temperature to 375°F and roast for about 50 minutes or until chicken is done. Turn broiler on and broil for an additional  two minutes or until skin is golden brown and crispy.

Making the Mustard/Lemon Sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk 3 tablespoons yellow mustard, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 1 1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar.

Once the chicken is done and the skin turns golden brown and crispy, let it cool for about 10 minutes before serving.

I like dipping  every bite into the sauce or alternatively drizzle some on the chicken.