Chicken – under a Brick with Green Olive Relish all recipes
Why This Recipe works:
By starting the chicken on the stovetop, weighted down(you don’t really have to use a brick; a Dutch oven wrapped in foil works just as well), then moving it to the even heat of the oven, we ensure crisp, golden – brown skin and juicy, perfectly cooked meat. The relish for this roast chicken doubles as a vinaigrette for the green: we toss a portion of it with the salad just before serving. The bright flavors of the green olive relish provide an excellent counter point to the mind flavor of chicken. And the additional of peppery arugula makes this a complete meat.
Ingredients: serve 3 to 4
Chicken – under a Brick with Green Olive Relish and Arugula salad
1 (3 ½ - 4 pound) whole chicken, backbone removed salt and pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil
4 (3 – inch) strips lemon peel, ¼ cup juice, and ¼ cup chopped lemon pulp from 2 lemons
½ cup toasted blanched almonds, chopped
½ cup pitted green olives, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
8 cups baby arugula
Procedure:
- Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees. Wrap brick in foil or wrap bottom of heavy Dutch oven with foil. Gently press center of chicken with heel of hand to flatten, then season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 3 tablespoons oil in large skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. And chicken, skin side down, then place weight on top and allow chicken to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer skillet with weight to oven and roast for 12 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine lemon peel, lemon juice, lemon pulp, almonds olives, garlic, and remaining oil in medium bowl and stir. Season with salt and pepper.
- Remove weight, turn chicken over and roast an additional 10 minutes until breast temperature reaches 160 degrees and thigh temperature reaches 170 degrees. Transfer to cutting board. Toss arugula with ¼ cup liquid from relish and season with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken and green olive relish.
Quick Prep Tip: Weighting the chicken
We love having a good roast chicken for dinner, but it’s practically impossible to get in on the table in 30 minutes. Or so we thought. By cutting out the backbone, opening up the chicken, and flattening it, we can roast a whole bird in less than 30 minutes. For a quicker cooking bird, weight the flattered chicken with a heavy Dutch oven or large brick wrapped in foil (for easy cleanup). The heated weight cooks the bird from top down, while the hot skillet cooks the bird from the bottom up. For this recipe, it helps to place the weight on top of the chicken as soon as the chicken is placed in the skillet.