I posted a photo to my story a little while back that caused a bit of a stir. My fellow social media friends were in awe of my roast chicken experiment. And rightfully so. It's damn good.
The primary flavors come from a root beer mango bbq sauce. That idea initially started out as a way to make slow cooker pulled chicken for sandwiches, but slow cookers tend to yield dry chicken, so I thought I'd take my thoughts to the entire bird and the oven. It can feel like a bit of a process at times, but oh is it worth it.
There's a couple of things that you are going to need to do for this chicken that makes all the difference.
Number one: spatchcock. And no, that's not a euphemism. Spatchcocking a chicken essentially means removing the spine and flattening the bird, so it cooks evenly and quickly. This saves you some time on the backend; an un-spatchocked chicken can take up to an hour and a half in the oven. Removing the spine and flattening the surface area divides the oven time in half. There are hundreds of methods online that are great resources on how to spatchcock a chicken, the easiest of which simply involves cutting out the spine from top to bottom with kitchen shears.
Number two: dry brine. When using a whole bird, the only way to ensure delicious salty flavor gets deep into the meat is to massage a dry brine onto the meat and let it hang out in the fridge for a day or two. It's going to feel a bit like you're violating your chicken.
Number three: butter baste. Before baking, use your fingers to slide some softened butter under the skin and spread the butter across the flesh. At this point, you're going to wish you bought your chicken dinner first before cutting straight to the X-rated stuff, or at least asked for consent. In fact, you should be asking your chicken for consent. Always ask for consent. Always.
Number four: the sauce, which can also be made ahead. This sauce is unlike any you've had before, and that's partly due to the fact that there's a lot of ingredients in it. BUT it's very possible you have at least half of these ingredients on hand already, and the ones you will buy will be ones you'll want to use over and over again.
This is truly a dinner for company. Impress your guests with a roast chicken like they've never had before. Also perfect for a potluck, as the sweet, sticky, juicy chicken lends itself well to all the picnic-style side dishes friends are likely to bring. You know, when it's safe to have potlucks again.
With root beer t'boot,
~c.j.
ROOT BEER MANGO ROAST CHICKEN
PREP TIME: 15 miss
INACTIVE COOK TIME: 24+ hrs
ACTIVE COOK TIME: 45-50 mins to roast chicken + 1-2 hrs to make sauce
YIELD: 1 bird (4 servings)
INGREDIENTS
FOR THE DRY BRINE
1 whole chicken, 5-6 lbs
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp ancho chili powder
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp sumac (optional)
zest of 1 orange
1/4 tsp black pepper
FOR THE ROOT BEER MANGO BBQ SAUCE
15 fl oz root beer (use the commercialized artificial stuff, the gourmet stuff doesn't pack the same punch)
1/2 c. soy sauce
15 oz can tomato sauce
9 oz jar Major Grey's mango chutney
1 serrano chili, halved, seeds removed to reduce heat if preferred (sub: jalapeño)
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp ground corinader
1 tsp sumac (optional)
2 star anise pods
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1 orange
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
salt, to taste
FOR ROASTING/ASSEMBLY
4 tbsp butter, room temperature
lemon wedges or orange wedges
parsley, for garnish
DIRECTIONS
Spatchcock the chicken: Place the chicken on a cutting board breast side down with the wings facing toward you. Using kitchen shears, start from the opening closest to you and cut on one side of the spine upward all the way through, ensuring you also include the ribs. Repeat on the other side and remove the spine. Check the chicken for any additional ribs that need to be removed. Flip the chicken over and press firmly with your palm on the breast bone until it cracks and lays flat. Transfer to a large baking sheet with a roasting tray, breast side up. Turn the legs inward and tuck in the wings. Voila!
Make the dry brine: In a bowl or mason jar, combine the salt, ancho powder, brown sugar, coriander, sumac, orange zest, and black pepper. Time to get intimate with your chicken. Using your fingers, create a separation between the chicken flesh and skin. Season the chicken aggressively under the skin with this brine, ensuring you incorporate the brine in all of the flesh. Wash your hands you filthy animal! Cover with foil or plastic wrap and allow to sit in the fridge 24-48 hours.
Make the BBQ sauce: Place a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in root beer, soy sauce, tomato sauce, chutney, serrano, brown sugar, coriander, sumac, anise, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, and apple cider vinegar. While that is warming, remove the peel from the orange using a vegetable peeler and drop the peels into the pot. Add the juice of the orange as well. Bring to a boil, then allow to simmer until sauce is reduced to a bout 2 1/2 c. (about 1 to 2 hours). Add vanilla, liquid smoke, and salt to taste. Stir, then remove from the heat and strain the solids. Reserve until ready to use (you won't use all of it, so save it in an airtight container for other uses!)
Roast the chicken: After the chicken has sufficiently brined, it's time to cook! Preheat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the center of the oven. Remove chicken from the fridge. Using the same openings you created earlier in-between the skin and flesh, distribute the butter under the skin. (This will baste the chicken and make it extra juicy!) Once the oven is preheated, roast chicken on the center rack for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove from the oven. Using a pastry brush, generously slather chicken in about 1/3 c. bbq sauce. Return to the oven, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 160°F. Remove, then slather with another 1/3 c. bbq sauce and allow to rest about 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and serve with lemon or orange wedges and parsley. Enjoy the fruits of your labor. It's worth it, I promise.