STEPS TO SPATCHCOCK THE CHICKEN:

1. Using sharp kitchen shears, you’ll need to spatchcock the chicken. This means you will need to cut the spine out of the chicken. This recipe was the first time I did this and it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be.
2. Run your scissors down each side of the spine and cut it out. You may have to wrestle with it (like I did) but it can be done! Watch my video and you can see the steps.
3. In order for the chicken to lay flat, you also need to cut the cartilage at the base of the breast bone. Once you make a small cut there, press gently down with your hands to widen the crack – you’ll likely hear an actual “crack” sound.
4. The chicken will now lay flat. Again, watch my video and you can following along while you do it yourself.

REMAINING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Salt and pepper the underside of the chicken. Turn chicken over and salt the top (skin side) of the chicken too. Let the chicken sit for 20-30 minutes to draw out the moisture of the chicken.
2. While the chicken sits, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. 
3. It’s also time to cover your bricks with foil. (See note #1 below if you don’t have bricks) Heavy duty aluminum works best, but if you don’t have that just do 2 layers of regular foil. 
4. After 20 minutes, a lot of water came out of my chicken and I had to hold it over the sink and let it drain out there. After that, blot the chicken with paper towel to get the rest of the moisture. This may remove some of the salt on the skin side which is fine.
5. About five minutes before you are ready to put the chicken in the oven, place your pan in the oven to heat it up a little. Be very careful when you remove the hot pan. You can put it on your stovetop or on a hot plate on the counter. 
6. Drizzle canola oil on top of the chicken and some in the pan too. The oil will sizzle a little. Place the whole chicken in the pan SKIN SIDE DOWN. Place one foil-wrapped brick on one side of the chicken and one on the other. Cook in oven for 35-40 minutes until internal temperature is 165 degrees. After 10 minutes at 500 degrees, reduce the temperature to 450. (See note #2 below) 
7. While the chicken is cooking prep the squash. Spoon the seeds out of it. Cut in half and lightly coat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place in a small baking dish and put it in the oven with the chicken. Cook until tender.
8. Prep for the pan sauce. Sage and thyme are included in the “poultry” seasoning package of fresh herbs so I used that. Remove the leaves from a few sprigs of thyme by holding the stem and gently running your fingers down the stem. The leaves should remove easily. Next, stack and roll the two sage leaves, slice then dice into smaller bits from there. 
9. Combine the sage and thyme and give a rough chop if needed. If you are garnishing with the optional parsley you should chop that now too. 
10. Cut one small-to-medium shallot into rings. 
11. Once the chicken is done, transfer the chicken to a small sheet pan. Put your oven broiler on high and place the sheet pan on a middle rack. We want to give the chicken an extra crisp here. This should only take a few minutes. KEEP YOUR EYE ON IT. It can burn very quickly if you walk away from it. Once it’s crisped remove from oven to rest. 
12. When you remove the chicken, the squash should also be done just poke it with a fork to make sure it’s tender all the way through. If it needs another few minutes, let that finish and then switch over to broil the chicken skin. 
13. While the chicken is resting, make the pan sauce. The whole sauce should only take about 8 minutes to make. Start by removing most of the fat from the pan the chicken cooked in. 
14. Leave about a tablespoon or so of fat in the pan and discard the rest. Also, leave all the brown crusty bits in the bottom of the pan. This adds major flavor to the sauce we’re making. 
15. Put the pan over medium heat and add the shallots to the fat. Stir for 2-3 minutes until they start softening. 
16. Add the white wine and stir another couple of minutes until most of the wine cooks off, the shallot rings have separated and the brown crusty bits in the pan start dissolving. 
17. Add the sage and thyme into the pan and stir for a minute or two until fragrant. 
18. Add the chicken broth to the pan and stir for a couple of minutes. The brown bits should be dissolved by now. 
19. Add the butter and stir until melted. Then taste the sauce. It might be a bit too salty (from the brown bits) so you need to add a little water and mellow it out. Start with ½ cup and taste again. This was the perfect amount for me, but if you need to add a splash more water go ahead. 
20. If juices have accumulated in the sheet pan you broiled the chicken with, add those juices to the pan sauce. 
21. Slice the squash any way you like and put the pan sauce in a bowl for serving.