Crisp Brick-fried Chicken with Rosemary, Thyme and Garlic

Here’s a recipe I’ve been meaning to share for the longest time, (read from back when my photo taking skills were really pathetic - Sorry!) but other more pressing dishes got in the way.  Which is rather ironic since this recipe calls for a great deal of pressing, so to speak, down on the chicken, so there is hardly a more pressing recipe.  Yeah, okay.  You are probably not laughing like I am laughing but that’s all right.  As our friend Jamie Oliver says, “You’ll be laughing” when you eat this.  Because it is delicious!  It is also perfect for warmer months when you are craving roasted chicken but can't bear to turn the oven on.

Ingredients
1 chicken
Olive oil
3-4 long springs of fresh rosemary
1 small bunch of thyme
Sea salt
Black pepper
8-10 whole garlic cloves
1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine

Method
Spatchcock or butterfly the chicken by removing the backbone.  That is to say, put your bird breast down on a cutting board and then, using a knife or poultry shears, cut up either side of the backbone and remove it.  (Throw it in the freezer bag of bones and castoff vegetable bits you are saving to, one day, turn into stock.  Okay, start one now.  Go ahead, we'll wait and you won't regret it.)

Turn the chicken over and press firmly down on the breast to flatten it out as much as possible.  Use two hands and put your weight into it.  I did.  But I couldn’t take a photo and press at the same time.

Pull your rosemary and thyme leaves off the thick stems (fine stems can be chopped up along with the leaves) and chop them up.

Next sprinkle the bird liberally with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Press the chopped leaves all around on the chicken.

The inside

The skin side

If you have the time, let the chicken hang around with the seasonings for as long as you can before you have to cook it.  If it’s longer than an hour, go ahead and refrigerate it but it’s best, but not essential, if you can get it back to room temperature before cooking.

Start the cooking process by heating a little olive oil in in a non-stick pan.  Put the chicken in, skin side UP.

Weigh it down with a heavy iron skillet or another skillet with weight added by inserting cans or bricks to the skillet.  As you can see, I used an extra skillet and a kettle filled with water.  (Years back I watched the Frugal Gourmet, Jeff Smith, make a similar dish and he used bricks covered in foil laid directly on the chicken.  Hence the name but whatever you’ve got works, as long as it’s heavy and helps flatten the bird out.)

Clean pan on top of the chicken. Full kettle in the clean pan.

Cook the chicken until it browns, about 15 minutes over a medium heat.

Remove the weight and turn your chicken over, breast side down. Put the weight/s back on.   Sprinkle the garlic cloves around the bird and cook until the skin is crispy and brown.

The inside again

I set my timer for 12 minutes on this side but the bird wasn’t quite cooked when it rang.  The garlic was looking on the verge of burning though, so I scooped it out with a slotted spoon.  I turned the stove OFF and left the weights on for another 12 minutes and then it was perfect.   If you use a lower flame, you might be able to avoid this step.  A medium low flame for 24 minutes might just be perfect.  (Twelve minutes each side.)

Regardless of the heat level, your time will vary depending on how cold your chicken was when you started this process. A room temperature chicken will naturally take a shorter time to cook than one straight from the refrigerator.

You will know your chicken is done when an instant read thermometer stuck in the thigh reads 170°F or 77°C or when the juices run clear when the thigh is poked with a sharp knife.

Remove the chicken to a carving board and skim the excess oil off from the pot.

It looks completely black but that's just my poor lighting.  It was a delicious amount of charred.

Turn the heat up high and add 1/4 cup or 60ml dry white wine. Cook until it thickens slightly. Mash your garlic with a fork and add it back into the sauce.

See the little blue bowl back there?  That's how much oil I skimmed off. 

Warm through and serve alongside the chicken.  If you are not serving immediately, put the chicken back in the pan  and cover it with the lid or a bit of foil to keep warm.

Enjoy!

And for those of you eyeing the quinoa salad, I can highly recommend it.  The original recipe post is here and that will tell you how long I've been waiting to share this chicken with you!

I’m on a touring holiday right now with my mom so if I don’t answer comments right away, please know that I am still delighted when you leave them and will respond as soon as I have internet access again. 

Loaded Baked Potato Muffins #MuffinMonday

Imagine a loaded baked potato full of sharp cheddar and crispy bacon bits and sour cream and onion tops.  In a muffin.  No kidding.  I think this is my favorite muffin so far.  Have I said that before?  Probably.  But this time I really, really mean it.  I ate two back to back, standing at the kitchen counter.  And then I had to go sit down and clutch my chest.  So rich, so good.  Serve them with a salad and call them lunch.  Or dinner.  But make these muffins.

Ingredients
6 slices bacon
230g or 8 oz potato
Sea salt
Black pepper
Handful green onions
8 oz or 225g extra sharp cheddar
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup or 180ml milk
1/2 cup or 120ml sour cream
1 egg
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

Method
Fry your bacon until it is crispy.   Set on paper towels to drain.  I use a single piece of paper towel on top of newspaper.  Keeps the ink off the bacon and doesn't waste a bunch of paper towels.

If your potato is thin-skinned, by all means, leave the peel on, otherwise peel it.  Then cut it into small squares.

Fry the potato pieces in the bacon grease until fork tender and nicely golden on all sides.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and liberally grease your 12-cup muffin pan.

Chop your green onions and bacon into little pieces and grate your cheddar cheese.

Set aside a little of each to use for topping later.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.

Add in the grated cheese, bacon bits and green onions.  Stir well.

Add in the cooled potatoes and stir again.

In a smaller mixing bowl, whisk your egg, milk, sour cream and oil.

Fold your liquids into the dry ingredients.

Divide the batter between the prepared cups in the muffin pan.

Top each with some of the reserved cheddar, onion tops and bacon bits.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the muffins are lovely and golden.

Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling.  You may need to run a knife around the edges if the cheese is sticking to the pan.

These are fabulous warm and almost as good cold!

Enjoy!

I’m on a touring holiday right now with my mom so if I don’t answer comments right away, please know that I am still delighted when you leave them and will respond as soon as I have internet access again. 

Meyer Lemon Upside-down Cake

The beauty of the internet is that we can learn about things that we would otherwise not experience in our lives.  We gain access to information and products that might have been out of reach before.  The downside of the internet is that sometimes it introduces us to things we still can’t have.  For years now, I have been reading about Meyer lemons.  They grow well in places with warm climates and most of the fruit becomes ready for picking in the wintertime.  If you plant Meyer lemons from seeds, it takes more than four years for the plant to produce lemons.  But most importantly, they are a hybrid citrus combining the tartness of lemons and the sweetness of oranges.  Who wouldn’t want to try such a lovely fruit?

If you follow my Facebook page, you know that I finally live somewhere that Meyer lemons are available.  Sadly, I don’t mean they are grown locally, although there is really no reason they couldn’t be, but they are imported for sale at my nearby grocery store.  I struggled with the outrageous expense and the fact that they had been flown clear from the other side of the world.  And then I broke down and bought some.   Lovely, truly lovely.   My bag had only six lemons so I had to choose my recipes carefully.  But I knew when I first cradled that yellow mesh bag in my eager arms, that upside-down cake would be one of them.


Ingredients
2 Meyer lemons
1/2 cup or 115g butter, plus extra for buttering the pan
3/4 cup, packed, or 150g light brown sugar

For the cake batter:
1 1/2 cups or 190g flour
1 cup or 225g sugar
1/2 cup or 115g butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking powder

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Prepare your baking pan (about 10in or 25cm diameter) by buttering it liberally and then lining it with parchment paper cut to the exact size of the bottom.  You can take your chances and not line it if you have a non-stick pan but sometimes caramelizing sugar will stick.  And that is one of the risks of upside down cakes.

Melt your butter and allow it to cool slightly.  Add in the brown sugar and stir well.

Pour this mixture into the baking pan.  It should spread right out and cover the bottom.

Slice your lemons very thinly and remove the seeds from the slices.

Starting in the middle, cover your sugar butter mixture with the lemon slices, overlapping them ever so slightly.   As you get to the outside, you may have to cut some slices in half to achieve full coverage.

In a large mixing bowl, beat all of the cake batter ingredients at low speed until well mixed, scraping down the sides of the bowl frequently with a rubber spatula.

Increase the beater speed to medium and beat for five minutes, stopping every couple of minutes to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Slowly pour the batter over the lemon slices in your baking pan.   Smooth out the top with your rubber spatula.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool for about 10 minutes.  The cake should begin pulling away from the sides of the pan.

Invert your serving plate on the top of the cake pan and turn both over quickly and decisively.  The cake should fall out of the pan on to the serving dish.

Gently lift the cake pan off and then peel the parchment paper off of the cake.  If any lemon slices have stuck to the parchment, ease them carefully off with the tip of a knife as you peel back the parchment.

Use a spatula to scrape up any syrup left in the pan and drizzle it over the cake.

This wonderful cake is sticky and tangy and sweet.  It will be most appreciated by anyone who is a fan of marmalade.  Or Meyer lemons.  Or cake.

I took this to a dinner party so I don’t have any photos of the cake being cut but I can tell you that each slice was served to warm acclaim with a generous dollop of crème fraîche.  I suggest you do the same.

Enjoy!