Spatchcock chicken over leeks and greedy bread

Name: Spatchcock chicken over leeks and greedy bread
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: French
Ingredients: 3 large leeks, cleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces (3 to 4); 2 tbsp butter, cut into pats; 8 stems fresh thyme; 4 stems tarragon, leaves picked; ½ tsp flaky salt, for the leeks; 1 cup dry white wine; 1 whole chicken, about 4.5 to 5 lb, spatchcocked; 1 tbsp flaky salt, for the chicken; ½ cup heavy cream; 1 ½ cups day-old baguette, torn into pieces (1.5 to 2 cups); parsley, finely chopped, to finish

One bird on a bed of leeks, and torn baguette underneath drinking up every drop.

At a Glance

Time

1 hr 30 min

Serves

Story

Spatchcock is just the old word for cutting out the backbone and pressing the bird flat, and it is the single kindest thing you can do to a roasting chicken. Flattened, it cooks in half the time and all at once, so the breast is done exactly when the thighs are rather than drying out while it waits on them. It also gives every inch of skin a clear run at the heat, which is how you get that lacquered, all-over crackle.

Ingredients

3 large leekscleaned and cut into 1-inch pieces (3 to 4)
2 tbsp buttercut into pats
8 stems fresh thyme
4 stems tarragonleaves picked
½ tsp flaky saltfor the leeks
1 cup dry white wine
1 whole chickenabout 4.5 to 5 lb, spatchcocked
1 tbsp flaky saltfor the chicken
½ cup heavy cream
1 ½ cups day-old baguettetorn into pieces (1.5 to 2 cups)
parsleyfinely chopped, to finish

Method

This is a whole dinner pretending to be a roast chicken. The bird goes over a bed of leeks, the leeks go under a pour of cream and wine, and by the end the torn bread tucked in beneath has drunk up the lot and turned into something between stuffing and a savory bread pudding. The word for that is panade, from pain, bread, and it is the quiet hero of the whole dish.

Heat the oven to 400°F convection. In a casserole or cast iron pan, line up the leeks, packed in fairly tightly, and dot them with the butter. Scatter over the thyme stems and tarragon leaves, season with the half-teaspoon of salt and pour in the white wine. Sit the pan on a baking tray, because burnt cream welded to the oven floor is nobody's idea of a good evening.
Season the spatchcocked chicken all over with the tablespoon of salt and lay it breast side up on the bed of leeks. Pour the cream over every part of the bird. This is the trick to the crust, the cream and wine baste together into a deep golden lacquer as they cook down.
Roast for the first 30 minutes at 400°F, basting the chicken every 15 minutes with the wine-cream juices in the pan. Then drop the heat to 370°F and roast until the breast reads 165°F, which will take a little over an hour all told, longer if your oven runs cool.
Lift the chicken onto a board and let it rest, loosely tented with foil. Discard the woody thyme stems. While the bird rests, tuck the torn bread down between the leeks and give everything a good mix so the bread soaks up the creamy wine sauce.
Return the pan to the oven for 20 to 25 minutes at 370°F, until the surface goes golden and sets into a panade. Let it sit for at least 5 minutes, finish with parsley, and carve the chicken over the top. The meat is absurdly juicy from all that basting, and it needs nothing else on the table.