2.18.16 Miso Butter Roasted Chicken
It’s February, aka that wonderful time of year when you realize you are really, and truly in the middle of winter. At this point, although it feels like it’s been winter forever, we all know we’re probably nowhere near the end either. There’s a whole lot of winter going on, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. This is February. And in my opinion, the only cure for February is some serious coziness.
For me, this involves a lot of warm wool blankets, comfy slippers, fires in the fireplace, semi-ridiculous amounts of hot tea, and lots of cooking. Cooking because, any excuse to heat up the oven or stove makes the house feel just that much more cozy. It’s the perfect way to spend a snowy evening, and as a bonus, the end result is something delicious.
One of my favorite things to do on wintry days is to roast a chicken. It’s so simple, yet when you pull a golden brown, roasted chicken out of the oven and carve it up, it feels like a special occasion. A roasted chicken is, simply put, pure comfort food.
The point I’m trying to make here is that we should all be roasting chickens more often. Be it straight-up and simple, or something a little more interesting, like this extra savory version that’s coated in miso butter before being roasted to golden perfection. Me, I’m going with the latter, but whatever you choose, let me just say this: roast a chicken; it will make you happy.
Miso Butter Roasted Chicken
Serves 4
I always used to be a fan of the standard, traditional chicken roasting method. That is, until I discovered spatchcocking and it changed my chicken roasting game forever. By cutting out the backbone and spreading the chicken flat, you end up with a.) a more evenly cooked chicken b.) a whole chicken that cooks in less than an hour and c.) maximum surface area on top for crispy, golden skin. All pretty good reasons in my opinion to ditch the old methods and go with the new.
- 1 whole chicken, approximately 4 lbs
- 2 Tbsp butter, room temperature
- 2 Tbsp miso paste (I used red miso)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- Chopped scallions for serving
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Place the chicken breast side down on a large cutting board. Use a pair of very sharp kitchen shears, cut along one side of the backbone, beginning by the thigh and ending up by the neck. Turn the chicken around and cut along the other side of the backbone to completely remove it (you can throw out the backbone, or save it to make stock!). Place the chicken skin-side up on a baking sheet, and press down on it to flatten.
3. Mix together the butter, miso, garlic, honey, and ginger in a small bowl until a uniform mixture is formed. (I found the miso to be salty enough that I didn't need to add additional salt, but miso pastes can vary, so I recommend tasting the mixture at this point and adding additional salt if you feel it is needed). Rub about half of the miso-butter mixture under the skin of the chicken, and rub the rest evenly over the surface of the skin.
4. Tent chicken loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil, and bake until a meat thermometer inserted into the breast reads 165 degrees, approximately 20 minutes more.
5. Let chicken rest for about 10 minutes, then carve and serve, sprinkled with chopped scallions.
