real life test kitchen: how to grill “roast” chicken

During the winter, grilled chicken is a staple Sunday night dinner.
It makes your house smell great and the leftovers are great for soups or
lunches during the week. In the summer time switch to the grill, and
the whole chickens go away — mostly because of our fear of under
cooking. When I spotted this technique
in the August issue of Bon Appetite magazine, I decided to give it a
go. It calls for a whole chicken with the “backbone removed.” I suppose
you could ask your butcher to do this, but I hacked it out on my own —
which is easier than I thought it would be. Once you remove the
backbone, the chicken will be split, and can lay down rather flatly on
the grill. This method is so simple, it’s really not a recipe at all.

Here’s how you do it: rub olive oil and salt and pepper all over your
chicken. Heat up the grill to about 400-450 degrees. Place a bunch of
whole scallions, long fresh rosemary twigs, and a halved garlic bulb
directly on the grill. Place the chicken skin side up on the herb pile.
Close the lid and let it cook for about 40 minutes. After that, remove
the charred herbs and brush some new olive oil on the skin side of the
chicken. Flip it over and cook on the grill for another 10 minutes or so
until nice and crispy. Remove from the grill and let it rest for a few
minutes before serving. For some extra flavor, roast some additional
scallions to serve along with it in the oven, for about 5 minutes. The
result is incredible moist, flavorful chicken that you can’t stop
eating. Enjoy!