Julia Child is famous for noting that the quality of a cook can always be judged by how well they roast a chicken. In my quest for poultry perfection, I have tried countless variations and recipes over the years. I've stuffed herbs under the skin, dry rubbed with elaborate spice blends, or simply stuck with salt and pepper. I've brined, yogurt-marinated, and wrapped in pancetta. I've meticulously followed the advice of Alice Waters, Jacques Pépin, Ina Garten, and of course Julia. With each experiment, I have learned a little bit more about roasting the perfect bird.

Recently, I have been testing recipes that start with spatchcocking a chicken, which is the technique of removing the backbone before roasting. This flattens the bird to help the meat roast evenly and a little faster. Here, a spatchcocked chicken brushed with herbed olive oil is placed in a skillet above a layer of lemon and onion slices, which creates a beautiful pan sauce underneath as it roasts. I imagine Julia would approve.

Ingredients:

1 3-to-4-pound whole chicken

1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, minced

½ teaspoon dried sage, ground

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

⅓ cup olive oil

1 lemon, halved lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch thick

1 yellow onion, halved lengthwise and sliced ¼ inch thick

2 garlic cloves, sliced thin

½ cup dry white wine

Juice of 1 lemon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl mix together the olive oil, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper. Set aside.

Rinse and thoroughly dry the chicken. Place chicken, breast side down, and legs towards you, on a cutting board. Using poultry shears or a sharp knife, cut along the right of backbone from tail to neck. Repeat to the left of the backbone and remove. Flip over skin side up and splay open the chicken. Press down on top to break the breastbone so that chicken lays flat. See notes.

Arrange lemon slices in a single layer at bottom of a 12-inch cast-iron skillet. Layer the onion and garlic slices evenly on top of lemon slices. On the cutting board, flip chicken over, skin side down, and brush with half of the herb oil mixture. Next, place chicken skin side up on top of the lemons and onions in skillet, and brush all over skin with the remainder of herb oil mixture.

Place in the middle rack of the oven and roast for 35 minutes. Pour the wine into pan, on to the onions not on the chicken and roast for another 15 to 20 minutes, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the breast reads 155 to 160 degrees. Remove skillet from oven and tightly cover with aluminum foil. Allow chicken to rest for 10 to 15 minutes. (This is an important step as the chicken will continue to cook while it rests. The temperature will continue to rise to a final internal temperature of 165 degrees.)

Carve chicken into serving pieces and arrange on a serving platter with the pan juices, cooked onions, and lemons. Finish by squeezing the juice of one lemon over the top and sprinkle with a little salt and a crack of black pepper.

Notes:

You can ask your butcher to spatchcock your chicken for you, but it's really quite easy once you've done it a few times. A quick internet search for "how to spatchcock a chicken" will bring up many tutorial videos and articles that walk you through the process. Once mastered, try it with other poultry and wildfowl. Roasting a spatchcocked turkey can be a gamechanger for your Thanksgiving meal. Be sure to save the backbones for your stockpot. I keep a bag of necks and backbones in the freezer for making chicken stock.

Try using different citrus in place of the lemon, such as navel or blood oranges. Play with the fresh herbs. Fresh oregano or basil could be lovely.

Enjoy!