Behind the Dish: Merriman's Honolulu

It's a Friday night in Ward Village and the vibe is electric.

You're seated at Merriman's, the city's hippest new restaurant, and all around you the scene is abuzz with activity. You've just had one of the most delectable dishes you can recall, the cast iron organic chicken at Merriman's, and your brain's already simmering on how you can recreate this old-school deliciousness at home. Well, lucky for you, we've got the inside scoop on the dish, straight from Peter Merriman himself.

"Here at Merriman's, all of our dishes are ingredient driven. We source the best possible ingredients we can find. Most of the time, those are grown and raised in Hawai'i," says Merriman. "Take, for instance, the local chickens, raised by the Ludovico farms family, specifically for us...we enhance that with the beautiful flavor of the Hamakua mushroom. Paired with the crispy chicken and charred lemon, it's easy to see why everyone seems to really love this dish."

Here's what you'll need to recreate the dish:

• 1 Chicken / spatchcocked
• Canola Oil / 0.5 oz
• Salt and pepper mix / 1 Tsp
• Rosemary, fresh, chopped / 1 Tsp
• Coriander seeds, toasted, ground / 0.25 Tsp
• Cremini mushrooms / 1 oz
• Alii mushrooms / 1 oz
• Dill, chopped / 1 Tblsp
• Butter / 0.5 oz
• 1/2 Lemon, charred
• Garlic, sliced / 0.2 oz
• Parsley, chopped / 0.1 oz

How to prepare the bird:

1. Preheat oven and heavy cast iron to 500 convection.
2. Season bone side of bird with salt and pepper, then turn.
3. Rub skin with 1 to 2 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Then season with salt and pepper, garlic salt, cayenne and dried dill weed.
4. Pull preheated cast iron from oven and place on high flame to super heat. Immediately place chicken, skin side down in pan and then in oven for 10 to 12 minutes.
5. Saute butter, chopped dill and mushrooms, and turn bird skin side up. The veggies will create a bed.
6. For a 3 lb. bird, it finishes in about 6 additional minutes.
7. If the cast iron is heavy enough, this process creates its own jus. In a thin pan, it evaporates, but the heavy cast iron moderates the temperature allowing a tasty natural jus, as much as 1 cup in volume.