30 Minute Garlic Almond Chicken Under A Brick Food

30 MINUTE GARLIC-PARSLEY CHICKEN-UNDER-A-BRICK

Steps:

• Preheat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium-high to high heat and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the garlic, parsley, almonds and lemon zest in food processor and pulse to grind into a dry paste. Loosen skin on chicken and layer 1/4 of the mixture under the skin on each piece of chicken. Wash your hands, grease the breasts with a liberal drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil and season with grill seasoning. Place skin side of the breasts down in the skillet and top with another, smaller skillet. Weight the pan with a brick. Cook to crisp skin, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the pan to hot oven and roast for 15 minutes.

CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the cumin, smoked paprika, crushed red pepper, garlic, oregano and lemon zest and juice. Drizzle in olive oil until the mixture becomes a paste. Place one half of the chicken into a large bowl (reserve the other half chicken for another use) and massage with the spice mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes at room temperature (or up to 12 hours in the fridge; if refrigerating the chicken, remove it from the refrigerator 45 minutes to 1 hour before cooking to let the chicken come to room temperature).
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Coat a large saute pan with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay the marinated chicken in the pan, skin-side down. Oil the bottom of another large saute pan, lay it on top of the chicken and place bricks or weights in the second saute pan. Cook the chicken until the skin starts to brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.
• Remove the pans from the oven and remove the weights and top pan. At this point the skin should be lovely and dark brown. Check the chicken for doneness; it should be cooked through but still succulent and juicy. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter.
• Remove the excess fat from the pan and add the white wine. Cook over high heat until the wine has reduced by more than half. Add the chicken stock, season with salt and reduce by half.
• Spoon the juices over the chicken and sprinkle with chives.

BRICK CHICKEN

Steps:

• Partially debone the chicken halves, removing the wing, backbone and thighbone. Rinse and pat dry. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 30 minutes to dry out the skin.
• Season the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a large nonstick skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium heat and add the oil and butter. Lay the chicken halves, skin-side down, in the skillet and scatter the thyme around them. Wrap a slightly smaller skillet with foil and place on top of the chicken. Set a large brick or 2 to 3 heavy cans in the skillet to weigh it down.
• Cook the chicken 3 to 5 minutes, then remove the top skillet and check the skin; adjust the heat and rotate the pan as needed so the skin browns evenly. Replace the top skillet and continue to cook until the skin is golden and crisp and the chicken is cooked about three-quarters of the way through, 20 to 25 more minutes. Remove the top skillet and carefully flip the chicken. Cook, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through, 8 to 10 more minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes. Cut each piece in half to serve.

CRISPY CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Steps:

• Remove the backbone and split the chicken in half. Mix together 1/2-cup olive oil, orange juice and zest, cumin, curry, brown sugar, garlic and parsley. Marinate the chicken in the mixture for 1 hour, covered in the refrigerator.
• Place an ovenproof skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat for about 3 minutes. Put the remaining 1/4-cup olive oil into the hot skillet and wait 1 minute for it to heat up.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade, season all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken halves in the skillet, skin side down. Wrap 2 bricks in aluminum foil and set them on top of the chicken. The weight will flatten the chicken resulting in a very crispy skin.
• Cook on the stovetop for 10 minutes, then transfer the weighted skillet to a preheated 450 degrees F oven. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes. Use a thin metal spatula to pry the chicken from the pan so not to tear the skin.

CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Steps:

• Spatchcock the chicken: Use kitchen shears to cut out the backbone from the chicken. Lay the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board and use a large knife to cut through the breastbone. Push the chicken down to flatten it out. Cut the wings off at the third joint (at the wing tip). Now locate the thigh bone. Use a small and sharp knife to cut the flesh off away from the bone, working all the way down to the joint. Once you're at the joint, bend the thigh bone back until you hear it pop and use your knife again to help remove the thigh bone completely. Repeat with the remaining thigh bone.
• Turn the chicken over, blot it dry and refrigerate on a large plate or baking sheet, uncovered, overnight to dry out the skin (this will help make it extra crispy). If you have to skip this step, then dry the chicken as best you can with paper towels and refrigerate, uncovered, for as long as you can.
• Sprinkle the chicken generously on both sides with salt and pepper.
• Heat the oil in a large 12-inch cast iron or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Lay the chicken, skin-side down, in the skillet. Add the garlic and herbs to the skillet. Now use either 2 bricks wrapped in foil or another heavy, slightly smaller skillet filled with large cans (tomato cans work nicely) directly on top of the chicken. Cook, leaving the chicken mostly undisturbed, checking every once in a while to make sure the skin is browning evenly and not getting too dark too quickly, and adjusting the heat as needed, until almost all of the meat is white (except for the very top of the breast) and the skin is a deep golden brown and crispy, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the bricks or weighted skillet and turn the chicken over using tongs and/or a spatula, being careful not to rip the skin. Continue to cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast reads 165 degrees F, 15 to 20 minutes more.
• Remove the chicken and let rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with lemon wedges.

CHICKEN TABAKA (GEORGIAN CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK)

Steps:

• Prepare chicken and place in a large, covered bowl or a large ziploc baggie.
• Combine oil, garlic, seasoning; squeeze in the juice of the lemon, then slice it in about 4 large slices and throw in also.
• Pour marinade over chicken and massage in to chicken (I loosen the breast skin, without removing, and rub some under there as well).
• Let marinate overnight, or at lease a couple of hours.
• Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
• Remove chicken from marinade and season all over with salt and pepper, then place in hot skillet.
• Weight chicken down with another cast iron skillet (you can use any type of skillet, if necessary, and weight THAT down with cans or bricks or something).
• Cook 10 minutes, then turn over and return weight; keep cooking 10 minutes and turning until chicken is crispy and cooked through, about 20 to 25 minutes (will register 165 degrees F on an instant read thermometer).

30-MINUTE GARLIC CHICKEN WITH POTATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Coat a large baking dish with vegetable or butter spray (Pam).
• Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and coat well.
• Place in baking dish and bake 30 minutes.

THE MIRACLE 1-MINUTE GARLIC PEELING TRICK

Steps:

• Cut the bottom stem end off the head of garlic and separate the cloves.
• Cut off the pointy tip ends of each clove and toss in a stainless or other metal pie pan.
• Top with another pie pan of the same size, and hold them together. You can use stainless bowls as well but the pie pans are just easier to hold.
• Shake the garlic for a little bit, then remove the top and pick out the peeled cloves. Occasionally there might be a stubborn one that needs a little more shaking, especially if it has a bruise so give it a look and see if it needs tossing in the garbage. Otherwise it just might like to shake itself longer.
• Store the garlic in the refrigerator in a little container; you can immerse it in oil (kept in refrigerator) if you like but if you cook every day or so going through this garlic should not be a problem.
• As for the lemon, rub it on your fingers and wash your hands with soap to get rid of that sticky stinky "you've been messin' with garlic" smell.

30-MINUTE GARLIC-ALMOND CHICKEN UNDER A BRICK

Steps:

• Preheat a heavy skillet over medium heat; preheat oven to 400°.
• In a food processor, combine the garlic, parsley, almonds, and lemon zest; pulse to chop them into a dry paste.
• Loosen the skin on the chicken and spread one fourth of the mixture under the skin of each piece.
• Grease the chicken breasts with a liberal drizzle of olive oil and season them with grill seasoning.
• Place the breasts in the skillet skin side down; top them with another smaller skillet.
• Weight the pan with a brick; cook them to crisp the skin, 6-8 minutes.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and roast them for another 15-20-25 minutes or until done.