Serious Eats: Recipes
Easy Roast Chicken with Asparagus and Leeks
Note: For crispest skin and best results use an air-dried chicken. To butterfly a chicken, use poultry shears, a cleaver, or a heavy chef's knife to remove the chicken's backbone. Lay chicken out flat with breast facing up. Pull legs out to sides so that entire chicken is skin-side up. Press down firmly on breast with hands to flatten. I cook my chickens to 140°F, though you may want to cook them hotter if you are squeamish about food safety (150°F is very safe, 165° is what the USDA recommends. Your chicken will be hopelessly dry by this point).
