This is one of my favorite chicken recipes, mostly because it is quick and easy. You need a pair of kitchen shears OR simply to ask the person behind the meat counter to clip out the chicken's backbone for you. And, you can marinate the chicken with any number of different cuisine angles. The stock one here is Italian. At the bottom of the recipe are some other options.
Chicken:
Total time: 30 minutes.
Other marinating options: keep the olive oil no matter what. But, instead of rosemary, garlic, salt and red pepper you could use dried coconut, garlic, salt, Thai red curry paste and chopped basil. Or 2 tbsp of canned chipotle paste, salt, chopped cilantro and chopped onion. Get creative.
Chicken:
- 1 ~4lb chicken, backbone cut out and discarded
- 4 tablespoons lemon juice (~2-3 lemons)
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary plus some more sprigs
- 2 garlic cloves, pressed
- coarse kosher salt
- ½ tsp dried crushed red pepper
- 9am: Open chicken flat like a book, skin side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Mix the lemon juice, 4 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp rosemary and the garlic in a small bowl. Rub the mixture over the chicken, cover and refrigerate. (10 minutes). Wrap a brick in aluminum foil.
- Evening: preheat oven to 400F. Put the brick in there when you turn the oven on so it preheats too. Sprinkle chicken with coarse salt and pepper. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add chicken, skin down, and cook until golden brown (7 minutes or so).
- Place foil-wrapped brick crosswise on top of chicken, roast in oven 40 minutes.
- Pull chicken out. Remove brick, turn chicken over, replace brick, cook ~20 minutes more or until juice runs clear from the thickest part of the thigh. Remove brick, set chicken on cutting board to cool. Carve, garnish with rosemary (10-15 minutes).
Total time: 30 minutes.
Other marinating options: keep the olive oil no matter what. But, instead of rosemary, garlic, salt and red pepper you could use dried coconut, garlic, salt, Thai red curry paste and chopped basil. Or 2 tbsp of canned chipotle paste, salt, chopped cilantro and chopped onion. Get creative.