Start with a fresh or frozen pastured (preferably) broiler. Using scissors, cut out out the backbone.
Cut backbone out completely – this is easier than it looks. The WSJ recipe says to use the backbone to make broth or discard – DISCARD! what?! no way. Make broth. Using it to make egg drop soup.Turn the bird over and smash down breaking breast bone so that the carcass lays fairly flat.
Smashed and ready for rub.Rubbed in seasoning of 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon salt (i used Hebridean Sea Salt Flakes harvested from the shores of the remote Scottish Hebridean Isle of Lewis), and 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper.Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy skillet then place chicken breast side down. The recipe i used said on medium high heat for 20 minutes, but thankfully i checked this at 12 minutes and it was a bit too brown. Perhaps using a cast iron skillet made the difference since they hold heat so well. Next time, i plan to use medium heat for 12 minutes.Place aluminum covered bricks on top of chicken to press it down. I didn’t have any bricks covered, so my improvisation was to lay the cast iron lid upside down, then stack a couple smaller skillets on top for added weight. Do this for both sides of the chicken.Using tongs, flip the chicken over and weight down again, reduce heat to medium low and cook another 15 minutes or so. This shows needing a bit more time.Crispy and done all the way through, including the thick breast meats. My family really liked it. So easy, too!
Here are the original instructions as found in Wall Street Journal some years ago.
looks yummy 🙂
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it was indeed – i was surprised at how crispy the outside was – both sides.
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