A dinner worth making again

I recently mentioned that I hadn't cooked any noteworthy dinners recently. Well, last night that changed, in my humble opinion ... I think Matt would agree, which is why I feel validated in writing this post.

Roasted Butterflied Chicken with Caradamom and Yogurt has redeemed any negative feelings I previously had about boring, dry, roasted chicken. I couldn't figure out how to copy the picture that accompanies the recipe and I didn't take one of ours so please, click on the link now so you can see how amazingly crispy and delicious this chicken looks. I will wait ...

OK, agree? It looks fabulous, doesn't it? And if tasks like butterflying chicken and tracking down cardamom seem intimidating to you, please don't let that stop you from trying this recipe. Butterflying chicken is actually very easy. There are lots of instructional videos on the Internet that demonstrate how to remove a chicken's backbone. And yes, I realize it's not that fun to get your hands all over raw chicken, but the end result is worth it, I promise.

Cardamom can be difficult to find and it's pricy, but I found mine in the bulk section of our Whole Foods and it only wound up costing me pennies.

So two hurdles removed, right? Oh, you don't have mortar and pestle? You're still not off the hook - use a rolling pin. I did. It worked great.

The other fantastic thing about this recipe is that it tastes best when marinated in the yogurt spice mixture overnight. So while it's a pain to start fixing tomorrow night's dinner before you've even cleaned up from tonight's, the bonus is that you have dinner basically done before tomorrow even comes!

Make this chicken please. It's tender, juicy on the inside, crispy on the outside and loaded with flavors you probably don't usually enjoy during your average weeknight dinner. My only word of caution is to NOT roast yours in a cast iron skillet. Yes, it looks more casual yet impressive in one, but you'll be left with a cleanup job you'd rather not tackle or let tarnish your memories of the best roast chicken you've had in quite some time.