CHICKEN COOKED UNDER A BRICK
- 2 young chickens (about 3 pounds each)
- 3 tablespoons fennel pollen or ground toasted fennel seeds
- ¼ cup coarse sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- About ½ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley
- Lemon wedges for serving
Instructions:
- USING KITCHEN SHEARS OR A SHARP KNIFE, cut down along both sides of the backbone of each chicken and along both sides of the backbone of each chicken and remove it. Turn the chickens skin side up and press down hard on them with your palms to crack the breastbones and flatten them. Remove the excess fat and pat the chickens dry with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, mix together the fennel pollen, salt, pepper, and thyme. Pat the mixture onto both sides of the chickens, coating them generously. Wrap each one tightly in plastic wrap, place on a baking sheet or in a baking dish, and refrigerate for 12 hours.
- An hour before you are ready to grill, remove the chicken from the refrigerator.
- Prepare a gas or charcoal grill for indirect grilling. Wrap two clean bricks in a double thickness of heavy-duty aluminum foil and place them on the hot part of the grill to preheat.
- Gently blot the chickens dry. Rub the birds all over with the olive oil.
- Using pot holders or oven mitts, move the bricks to the side of the grill. Oil the grill rack, using a clean rag dipped in oil or a basting brush. Place the chickens skin side down on the line midway between coals and no side down on the line midway between coals and no coals. Place a brick on top of each chicken, cover the grill, and cook for 10 minutes. Move the bricks to the side of the grill again, carefully lift up each chicken, making sure that the skin doesn’t tear (gently slide a thin spatula under the chicken to detach it if necessary), and place skin side up on the hot part of the grill. Place the bricks on top again, cover the grill, and cook for 15 minutes, being careful to snuff any flare-ups with a squirt gun (or, as in my case, a beer).
- Remove the bricks, carefully turn the chickens over, and cook, still on the hot part of the grill, for 5 minutes more, or until the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°F. Transfer the chickens to a platter and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle the chicken with the parsley and serve with lemon wedges.
- Butterfrying a whole chicken and weighting it with a brick as it cooks, whether in a skillet or on the grill, is a classic technique in Italy. The pressure of the brick when the skin is toward the flame makes the skin incredibly crisp, and the split chicken cooks quickly, so the meat remains succulent and juicy.