Spatchcocked engagement chicken with onions, lemon and sherry pan sauce

Snip out the spine with kitchen shears, cut shallowly at the sternum, crack the bird open and pull out the keel bone; flip and tuck the wings under the breasts.

Finely mince the rosemary, parsley, thyme and tarragon and mix with salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil to a paste.

Separate the skin from the breast meat with your fingers and pump the herb paste underneath; keep it restrained, it is an augmenter.

Rest at least an hour at room temperature, ideally four hours to overnight in the fridge.

Thickly slice the onions, quarter the lemons lengthwise and halve the head of garlic widthwise.

Preheat the cast iron pan over medium heat, oil the outside of the chicken and take the pan up to medium high until the oil wisps.

Lay the chicken skin side down, weigh it down with another pan for full contact, and rotate it 90 degrees partway to beat hot spots.

Remove the chicken; sear the onions in the pan, then clear space for the garlic cloves and add the lemons, tossing everybody.

Return the chicken to the pan and roast at 400F with convection until cooked through and crisp.

Remove the chicken, bring the onions and garlic up over medium high heat, then add half a cup each of chicken stock and dry sherry and cook down until thick.

Pull out the garlic head, then stir cold cubed butter and some of the herbs into the sauce.

Cut the bird down the centre with shears, lay a bed of sauce, flank it with the pan-seared lemons and set the half chicken over the top.