If you can’t find precut chicken quarters, ask your butcher to quarter a 5-pound chicken and remove the backbone.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4

　　1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened

　　4 pounds chicken quarters, skin on

　　Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

　　4 large shallots, peeled and halved lengthwise

　　

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet and the chicken pieces with butter. Lay chicken, skin side up, on sheet; season with 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper.

　　

Step 2

Roast chicken 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Carefully arrange shallots, cut side down, around chicken; season shallots with salt and pepper. Return to oven. Continue roasting, basting chicken occasionally with pan juices, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone) registers 165°F and shallots are tender and caramelized, about 20 minutes more. Transfer to a platter; loosely tent with foil. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

　　Reprinted with permission from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The New Classics by Martha Stewart Living Magazine, copyright © 2007. Published by Clarkson Potter, a division of The Crown Publishing Group.Buy the full book from Amazon.