Oven-baked chicken with sumac

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken weighing 1.3–1.8 kg.
• 2 tbsp. l. dried sumac

Preparation:

1. Preparation:
   
   Place the chicken breast-side up. Being careful not to tear the skin, slide your finger underneath and separate it from the meat. Gently run your fingers as far up the breast meat as possible, then as far down the legs as possible. This will help crisp up the skin. Then pat the chicken dry thoroughly with paper towels.
2. Seasoning:
   
   Season the chicken on all sides, lightly on the wings and more heavily on the breasts, legs, and thighs. Sprinkle about 0.5 teaspoon of salt into the cavity. Then sprinkle the chicken generously with sumac on all sides, adding a little inside the cavity. Season the chicken generously with pepper. Refrigerate, uncovered, for 3 hours. After 3 hours, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and let it cool to room temperature for 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230°C.
3. Baking:
   
   Once again, thoroughly pat the chicken dry inside and out with paper towels. Tuck the wing tips under the chicken to prevent them from burning. Heat a cast-iron skillet large enough to fit the chicken over high heat (if you don't have a cast-iron skillet, use a heavy-bottomed stainless steel skillet, adding a little vegetable oil just before adding the chicken).
4. When the pan is very hot, reduce the heat to medium and add the chicken, breast-side down. Increase the heat again to high and cook for about 30 seconds, then place the pan in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. The total cooking time is about 1 hour.
5. Rest:
   
   After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven. Using tongs and a meat fork, turn the chicken over so the breast is facing up. Return to the oven and roast for another 25–30 minutes, or until a thermometer inserted into the center of the breast registers 155°F (68°C).
   
   Note
   
   Chef Berglund prefers to roast the chicken to a temperature just below the recommended safe temperature (165°F/74°C): when the chicken rests after roasting, the temperature will rise a little more and the chicken will finish cooking.
6. Remove the chicken from the pan and let it cool breast side up, loosely covered with foil, for 30 to 35 minutes.
7. Cutting:
   
   Cut the skin between each leg and breast to separate the leg pieces but leave them tightly attached. Turn the cavity away from you; then cut along both sides of the breast to the joint between the wing and the carcass.
8. Remove the breast and wing from one side, then the other. Turn the chicken over, cut off the leg, and separate the thigh. Repeat with the other leg and thigh. Place on a serving platter and serve immediately.