No Bones About It (pardon the regrettable, yet inevitable, pun)

I'd like to preface this post regarding tonight's dinner by saying that it doesn't cost much more to buy a natural Whole Foods chicken than it does to buy a commodity chicken. I spent $10 on a 4.5# natural roaster, compared with the same cost for a conventional six-pounder at a local grocery store. It's majorly better for all parties involved (except agribusiness) for you to buy the natural Whole Foods chicken. Please do.

Now what did I do with this chicken? I boned it. The first step is to remove the backbone. Using a sturdy pair of kitchen shears or a heavy knife, cut along both sides of the backbone to separate it from the rest of the carcass. I can't explain to you without pictures how to remove the bones, other than using one word: carefully. Use a sharp, rigid, relatively short knife to cut along the bones of the carcass, preserving the integrity of the skin and flesh as best as possible. At the end, there will be a boneless, butterflied chicken. I left the bones in the drumstick and wings.

For base flavoring, I marinated in blood orange, lime, garlic, rosemary, and olive oil for about five hours. To supplement, I made a puree of turkey bacon, onion, garlic, oil, and rosemary to stuff under the skin. This served two main purposes. First was to add flavor. Second was to slow the cooking of the breast. It worked quite well on both counts, as the breast and thigh were finished cooking simultaneously. I also sprinkled the top with some spice mix just for a bit of added kick. It's a pretty straightforward dish and turned out quite tasty.