First of all, to everyone who is a father, Happy Father’s Day! A couple of weeks ago, I was watching an old episode of Good Eats and Alton Brown was making this chicken recipe, which I’ve adapted. Instead of roasting a trussed chicken, he chooses to butterfly it to allow for more even cooking as well as a reduction in cooking time, which is always welcome in my kitchen. This recipe is really simple and can be easily modified to one’s own tastes.

Ingredients:
1 ½ teaspoons black peppercorns
4 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 lemon, zested
olive oil
1 large onion, large dice
3 carrots, peeled and ¼ inch slices on the bias
3 stalks of celery, ½ inch slices on the bias
2 small yukon gold potatoes, ¼ inch half moons
3 – 4 lb broiler/fryer chicken
sea salt
1 cup white wine
1 pint chicken stock
3 to 4 sprigs fresh thyme
olive oil

Directions:
1. Position oven rack 8 inches below flame/coil and turn broiler to high.
2. Crack peppercorns with a mortar and pestle until coarsely ground. Add garlic and salt and work well. Add lemon zest and work just until you can smell lemon. Add just enough oil to form a paste.
3. Add onion, carrots, celery, and potatoes to deep roasting pan.
4. Place chicken on a plastic cutting board breast-side down. Using kitchen shears, cut ribs down one side of back bone and then the other and remove.
5. Turn chicken breast-side up and spread out like a butterfly by pressing down on the breast and pulling the legs toward you. Loosen the skin at the neck and the edges of the thighs. Evenly distribute the garlic mixture under the skin.
6. Drizzle the skin with oil and rub in, being sure to cover the bird evenly. Drizzle oil on bone side of chicken as well. Salt both side. Arrange bird in roasting pan, breast up, atop vegetables.
7. Place pan in oven and check bird in 10 minutes. If the skin is nicely browned, flip over and cook for another 12 to 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees and juices run clear. Remove chicken and allow to rest on cutting board.
8. Set roasting pan over 1 or 2 burners on high, depending on size of the roasting pan. Deglaze pan with wine, scraping bits from bottom. Add chicken stock and thyme and reduce to make a jus. While the liquids are reducing, the vegetables will have more time to cook.
9. Slice chicken onto plates or serve in quarters. Sauce lightly with jus and serve.