Chicken Under a Brick

1 young chickenIt's even jucier then it looks in the picture!

1 tsp each chopped fresh rosemary, thyme, and sage

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 Tbs olive oil, plus more for coating the pan

zest and juice from one lemon

Recipe Instructions:

The night before you want to eat the chicken, brine the chicken in the basic brine. 

Thyme, rosemary, sage, and garlicThe next day, up to two hours before you wish to cook the bird, combine the rosemary, thyme, age, garlic, salt, pepper, 1 Tbs olive oil, and lemon zest and juice.  Remove the bird from the brine, and pat dry.  Cut out the backboneCut the backbone out of the chicken to butterfly the bird.  (it's easy, and somewhat cathartic.  I promise.  If you are uncomfortable with this step, ask your butcher to do it for you).  Loosen the skin (you will need a knife to loosen some of the membrane), and apply spices evenly under the skin.  Allow it to marinate for up to two hours.

When you are ready to cook the bird, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and place your chicken press or two bricks wrapped iloosening the chicken skinn silver foil into the oven.  Meanwhile, heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Butterflied chicken with herbs under its skinAdd enough oil to generously coat the bottom of the pan.  Remove the bricks from the oven.  When the oil shimmers, place the chicken in the pan, skin side down, and immediately place the hot bricks on the bird.  Cook on the pan for about 8 minutes until the skin turns golden brown.  Your house should start smelling delicious!

Place the Chicken Press (or bricks) on the chickenRemove the bricks, and flip the chicken over.  Place it in the hot oven and roast until chicken is cooked through, between 25 and 30 minutes (the internal temperature of the meatiest part of the thigh should register 165 degrees).The chicken skin should be golden brown

Allow the chicken to rest for ten minutes.  This is really important to allow the juices to permeate the meat.  The chicken will actually cook a bit on its own during this time.   Set the table, play with the cats, wash your hair; whatever it takes avoid all urges to cut the chicken before it has rested. 

After the bird rests, slice and enjoy!  You could make a simple gravy by deglazing the bottom of the roasting pan with 1 cup of white wine or chicken broth and 2 tsp tapioca flour (or potato starch or regular flour) suspended in 1 tbs water.  Stir to remove all of the bits off of the bottom of the pan and then simmer until the gravy is slightly think.  I promise you, however, that this chicken is so juicy you won't need a gravy!

Balsamic Glazed Grilled Chicken

2 whole chicken breasts split in half

 1/4 Cup Kosher Salt

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Mix Salt and Sugar in 2 quarts of water. and add the chicken breasts.  Allow the chickens to soak in the brine for at least two hours.  Remove the breasts, rinse off, and pat dry.  Prepare a grill and coat the breasts in the balsamic vinaigrette.  Place chicken on the hot grill and cook until grill marks appear, about 5 minutes.  Flip the chicken and brush a final coat of the glaze onto the chicken.  Cook until grill marks appear on the second side and the chicken is cooked through, about an additional 3 minutes.  Remove from the grill and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

Recipe Notes:  This is a basic brine.  I brine all of my poultry.  It imparts a ton of flavor and leaves the meat very, very juicy.  If you don't use the vinagarette as a glaze, add additional spices to the brine, coat the chicken lightly with conola oil, grill and enjoy!