DANGEROUSLY GOOD CHICKEN

Our food editor Brooke Caison is just as obsessed with the thriller You as the rest of the world, so she dared to re-create the series' killer recipe at home.

-  Brooke Caison

There's an episode in Season 2 of the dark, soapy Netflix thriller You when Love, a line cook, takes her love interest (and serial killer) Joe on a food tour of LA in search of "the perfect bite." After a night of disappointing food, she decides to cook for him herself. Driven by the notion that "you can tell everything about a cook based on their roast chicken" (which, OK, is kind of true!), Love serves a flawless bird.

Ever since watching, I've wondered if Love's chicken truly was the perfect bite, and with a new season out for our binge-watching pleasure, I had to find out for myself. I re-watched the 30-second cooking scene 15 times, pausing to study her every move. The key is the spatchcock technique: Removing the spine and flattening the chicken sounds a little scary, but it allows all of the parts to cook in the same amount of time, resulting in juicy breast meat and fully cooked legs and thighs. With the crispy potatoes, glazed carrots, and tangy-sweet balsamic reduction, the dish truly was perfect. I promise it'll slay at your next dinner party.