Buttery Baked Chicken with Veggie Rice

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, spatchcocked (spine removed)
• oil, to coat (enough to rub over both sides)
• salt, to taste
• Creole seasoning, to taste (I use Tony Chachere's — it has no salt in it)
• lemon pepper seasoning, to taste
• about 1 stick butter, for under the skin (optional, if you want it more buttery and savory)
• limes, cut into wedges, as many as you like
• 1 stick butter (for the rice)
• celery, diced, to taste
• red bell peppers, diced, to taste
• 1/2 onion, diced (or a whole onion, depending on how you feel about onions)
• Creole seasoning, to taste (for the rice)
• salt, to taste (for the rice — don't be afraid to get a little heavy with it, but not too crazy)
• lemon pepper seasoning, to taste (for the rice)
• 1 cup rice, unwashed (do not wash it)
• 2 cups chicken broth
• parsley, chopped (optional, for garnish)

How to Make It

1. Cut the spine out of the whole chicken to spatchcock it.
2. Pat the chicken dry so the oil and seasoning will stick.
3. Place the chicken in the pan you will bake it in.
4. Rub oil all over the chicken, then flip it and oil the back as well.
5. Season the top with salt, then Creole seasoning, then lemon pepper seasoning, spreading the salt evenly.
6. Flip the chicken and repeat the seasoning on the backside, getting all around it.
7. (Optional) Slide a finger under the skin to make a small pocket and stuff in pieces of butter, spreading them out under the skin in several spots.
8. Cut the limes into wedges and squeeze a little juice over the chicken, spreading it out so it doesn't knock off the seasoning in one spot; place the remaining wedges in the pan.
9. Wrap the chicken and let it marinate for at least 2 hours so the flavor seeps into the meat (optional but recommended).
10. Cover the chicken with foil and bake at 275°F for 2 hours (or, if you're short on time, at 350°F for about 1 1/2 hours).
11. Remove the foil for the last 30 minutes and baste the chicken with its own juices to crisp it up.
12. Put the foil back on after baking so the chicken doesn't dry out, then let it cool and break it apart.
13. Dice the celery, red bell peppers, and onion; you can mix them together since they go in the same pot.
14. (Optional) Chop the parsley for garnish.
15. Heat a Dutch oven (or any oven-safe pot with a lid or foil) and, before it is fully hot, add 1 stick of butter.
16. Before the butter finishes melting, add all the diced vegetables.
17. Add Creole seasoning, salt, and lemon pepper seasoning, then mix in.
18. Turn the heat up to get the pot hot and cook the vegetables fast.
19. Add 1 cup of unwashed rice and toast it, keeping it moving, for about 5 minutes.
20. Add 2 cups of chicken broth and make sure the rice is fully submerged.
21. When it starts to bubble with a rolling boil, place the lid on the pot.
22. Bake at 350°F for about 25 to 30 minutes, until all the liquid is absorbed into the rice.
23. (Optional) Garnish with the chopped parsley and serve alongside the chicken.

Curtis's Tips

• Buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself — it's a lot cheaper, and you get two legs, two thighs, two wings, and two breasts out of one bird.
• Pat the chicken dry first so the oil doesn't roll off and the seasoning sticks.
• Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning has no salt in it, so I add the salt separately — it looks like a lot going on, but it isn't. Use any Creole seasoning you have and season your chicken how you want to season it.
• Butter under the skin is optional but makes it very buttery. Keep the pocket small so the butter doesn't come back out.
• Limes are optional and to taste — you don't have to use as many if you don't have them on hand, but I like limes. They cook in the pan with the chicken for a zesty flavor.
• Marinating it wrapped for a couple of hours makes it more flavorful, but you can bake it right away.
• The slower and longer it cooks, the more tender it gets — the chicken literally falls off the bone.
• For the rice, switch up the vegetables to your own style if you don't like the ones I chose. I sneak onions in for kids who don't like them, because they can't tell once they're sautéed.
• Do not wash the rice — if you wash it, the rice won't thicken up the right way and it might come out too mushy.
• Add the stick of butter and put the vegetables in before the butter finishes melting — that's the trick. The vegetables and rice absorb the butter, so it isn't as much as it sounds.
• A Dutch oven is ideal because it heats evenly with no hot spots, but any oven-safe pot with a lid will work; use foil if you don't have a lid.
• Make sure all the liquid is fully absorbed before you eat the rice.
• Invest in soufflé bowls — they're great for portioning your prep.