Iron-Pressed Chicken Recipe
Chef Marcus Samuelsson, author of The Red Rooster Cookbook, splits the chicken and pan-sears it with a cast-iron skillet on top. "The extra weight presses it onto the pan," he says. "That makes the skin crispy—and for me, chicken's all about the skin."
Photo: Linda Xiao
Serves 4
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 (3⅓-pound) chicken
- Leaves from 2 sage sprigs
- 1 Tbsp. kosher salt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
Directions
Active time: 20 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Place chicken on a cutting board, breast side down. Using kitchen shears, cut along the left and right sides of backbone to remove it; discard or save for stock. Turn chicken over and press down to crack breastbone and flatten chicken. Loosen chicken skin and slide sage leaves underneath, along the thigh and breast. Season all over with salt and place in a 1-gallon ziplock bag. Pour in 2 cups water and lemon juice and seal bag, squeezing out air. Leave bag on counter to marinate for 1 hour, turning over after 30 minutes.
In a large, heavy skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade and pat completely dry, then set in skillet, skin side down. Wrap the bottom of a cast-iron skillet with aluminum foil and set it on chicken. Cook 25 minutes. Remove cast-iron skillet, turn chicken over, and cook until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh registers 165°, about 20 minutes.
Let chicken rest 10 minutes, then cut into quarters and serve.
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