Chicken Under A Brick Recipe - Cooking Index
The great dish of Lucca, Italy, should always be made with the best olive oil available. I weight the chickens with a cast-iron pan and a couple of big rocks. The only problem is that handling the hot, heavy pan takes a steady, strong wrist, so use two hands. The effort is well worth it: This is the simplest and best method for producing a beautiful, crisp-skinned bird. I specify rosemary here, which is delicious. But most herbs are equally wonderful. Try savory (in similar quantity); parsley, basil, chervil, chives (use twice as much); or tarragon, marjoram, or thyme (use half as much).
Type: Chicken, Poultry1 | Chicken - (3 to 4 lbs) - trimmed of excess | |
Fat, rinsed and patted dry | ||
1 tablespoon | 15ml | Minced fresh rosemary leaves |
= (or 1 tspn dried rosemary) - plus | ||
2 sections | Fresh rosemary - (optional) | |
2 teaspoons | 10ml | Salt |
1 tablespoon | 15ml | Coarsely-chopped garlic |
2 tablespoons | 30ml | Extra-virgin olive oil |
1 | Lemon - quartered |
Remove the backbone and split the chicken. Mix together the rosemary leaves, salt, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and rub this all over the chicken. Tuck some of it under the skin as well. Allow to marinate, if time permits, for up to a day, refrigerated.
When you are ready to cook, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Preheat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Press the rosemary sprigs if you are using them into the skin of the chicken. Put the remaining olive oil in the pan and wait a minute for it to heat up. Place the chicken in the pan, skin-side down, along with any pieces of rosemary and garlic. Weight the chicken with another skillet or use a flat pot cover and a couple of bricks or rocks. The basic idea is to flatten the chicken by applying a fair amount of weight evenly over its surface.
Cook over medium-high to high heat for 10 minutes; transfer, still weighted, to the oven. Roast for 15 minutes more. Take the chicken from the oven and remove the weight; turn the chicken over (it will now be skin side up) and roast 10 minutes more. To check for doneness, insert an instant-read thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh; it should read 160 to 165 degrees. Serve hot or at room temperature (refrigerate it if you will not be serving it within the hour), with lemon wedges.
This recipe yields 6 servings; zero carbs.
Source:
Low Carb Recipes at http://www.lowcarbluxury.com
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