Butterflied Asian Chicken Recipes

Steps:

• Mix the chopped rosemary, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.
• Place the chickens on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each chicken. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens.
• Turn the chicken skin side down and scatter the lemon slices and sprigs of rosemary over each chicken. Season with salt and pepper. Roll each chicken up, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Heat a grill with coals. Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Unroll the chickens, place them on the grill and cook for 12 minutes on each side.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking pan with aluminum foil. Place a rack on top of foil.
• Rub olive oil on both sides of chicken and generously season with salt and black pepper. Arrange lemon slices and rosemary on the rack and place chicken, skin-side up, onto the rack.
• Roast in the preheated oven until no longer pink at the bone and the juices run clear, 45 to 55 minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, near the bone should read 165 degrees F (74 degrees C).
• Transfer chicken to a serving platter and tent a piece of aluminum foil over it. Discard lemon and rosemary and remove rack.
• Pour wine into the baking pan and gently loosen the bits of food in the pan with a wooden spoon, being careful not to tear the foil. Strain pan juices into a saucepan and bring to a boil; cook until sauce is slightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Spoon sauce over chicken.

Steps:

• Light a grill or set your broiler on high and give it a 15-minute head start.
• Butterfly (or spatchcock) the chicken: Cut out the chicken's backbone with poultry shears, a cleaver or a sharp, heavy chef's knife (or ask a butcher to do this). If you think you will make stock at some point, by all means tightly wrap the backbone in plastic and put it in the freezer. Place the chicken skin side up in a roasting pan and press firmly on the breast with the heels of your hands until it cracks and flattens. Position the legs so they lie flat and the drumsticks point out. Tuck the wingtips over the tops of the wings to hold them in place, or cut them off. Rub the bird with the oil. (Don't worry about any extra oil that may fall onto the pan.) Now wash your hands.
• Coarsely grind the fennel, coriander, peppercorns and cumin with a mortar and pestle or with 8 or 9 pulses in a spice grinder. Mix in the salt and paprika or pimentón and sprinkle this rub on both sides of the bird, with the emphasis on the skin.
• Set the chicken skin side down on a grill or skin side up on a broiler rack positioned so the highest point of the bird is about 10 inches from the flame. When the skin begins to brown after 6 or 7 minutes, flip the chicken over. (The easiest way is to grab the knobby ends of both drumsticks with several layers of paper towels if you are in the kitchen, or with clean oven mitts if you are grilling.)
• After about 10 minutes, when the bony side is browned, lower the heat to medium-high (400 if you're using an oven), flip the chicken again and cook another 10 minutes, or until the skin is very crisp and brown and the thickest part of the thigh reaches 165 degrees when checked with a meat thermometer. Let it rest about 5 minutes before carving. (If you are grilling, set it on a platter.)
• Spoon any juices that have collected in the broiler pan or the platter over the chicken. Serve with lemon. In springtime, try to serve this with tender young bitter greens - like arugula, watercress or baby dandelions - tossed in a sharp vinaigrette.