Recipe by Kate Poskochil, Food Blogger, KJ and Company
Total Time: 1 hour, 45 mins Serves: 6
Basted in a cranberry orange glaze, this chicken is juicy, flavorful, and perfect for the holidays!
Ingredients
4–6 pound Whole Smart Chicken
Salt and pepper
1 cup cranberry sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 oranges, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion, quartered
12 oz fresh cranberries
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
To Spatchcock: Unwrap the whole Smart Chicken and pat dry with a paper towel and place on a cutting board. Flip the chicken over so that the back-side is up and the breast-side is down on the cutting board. Run your finger down the middle of the chicken to locate the back bone. Use a pair of sharp kitchen scissors to cut alongside both sides of the backbone to remove it completely. It can be discarded or saved and used to make homemade chicken stock if desired.
Flip the chicken back over and try to lay as flat as possible. Use both hands to press down in the center of the chicken breasts to flatten the breast bone. You should hear a pop. This will allow the chicken to lay even more flat and butterflied.
In a small bowl, combine the cranberry sauce, orange zest, rosemary and thyme. Set aside 1/4 cup of the glaze for later use (not to be contaminated by raw chicken). Arrange the orange slices, onion and fresh cranberries on a baking sheet and drizzle with the olive oil.
Place the spatchcocked chicken on top of the prepared baking sheet, season with salt and pepper and glaze with the prepared glaze, saving the 1/4 cup for later. Roast the chicken for 1 hour, 15 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat reads 165 degrees.
Use a clean baster to baste the chicken with the saved 1/4 cup glaze that was set aside. Carve and serve.