Buffalo Roasted Chicken

Super Bowl recipe anyone? I made this chicken for the NFC/AFC games last weekend and I thought it was a total success. I am making it for a Super Bowl party for sure. It is so much easier to eat than regular Buffalo Wings. Granted, I would never advocate for ditching wings altogether, but this is a really fun twist on that classic. You butterfly the chicken, which really isn't as hard as it sounds. You are basically just removing the backbone so that you can cook the chicken in one layer. This allows you to cook it at a higher heat, mimicing the frying process that normally would happen if you were making wings. The meat ends up being very moist, the skin is crispy, and the buffalo hot sauce has that familiar kick that everyone loves when football is on the TV. You don't even need to be watching the Super Bowl to enjoy this chicken, which I'm sure Mark will request on a non game day very soon.
Buffalo Roasted Chicken
Ingredients:
1 5-6 lb. chicken
1/2 cup hot sauce (divided)
1 light beer
1/2 stick butter
1/2 tsp. whole pepper corms
salt and pepper

1. Make a marinade in a large freezer bag by pouring beer and 1/4 cup hot sauce into a freezer bag with 1 tsp. salt and whole peppercorns.
2. Butterfly your chicken by cutting out the backbone. Lay the chicken on the cutting board skin-side-down and make a cut in the middle of the breastbone. This will allow you to competely flatten the chicken.
3. Put the whole chicken into the freezer bag and allow to marinate in the liquid overnight in the refridgerator.
4. Remove the chicken from the marinade, rinse it in cold water and pat it very dry with paper towels.
5. Lay the chicken skin-side-up in a foil lined roasting dish and drizzle with about 1/4 cup olive oil and 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Roast in a 425 degree oven for 1 hour until the skin is very crispy and the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
6. When the chicken is almost done, make the buffalo sauce by melting the butter in a microwave safe dish.
7. Mix the butter with the other 1/4 cup of hot sauce.
8. Pour the sauce over the cooked chicken.
9. Slice up the chicken. I cut off the wings and legs from the body and then take the breasts off in two large pieces. Then I slice the breast so that everyone can have some skin. Win-win.
Pour any remaining sauce that dripped off into the pan back over the chicken. I served it with a dish of blue cheese dressing for people to dip if they wanted. You could also serve it with celery sticks to increase the wing factor.