Description
I can finally make a whole chicken after work for dinner! This quick-cooking method makes crispy skin and beautiful presentation!
Ingredients
- 1 whole fryer chicken, 3 to 4 pounds
- 1 tablespoon dried sage, crumbled
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board. With a poultry shears or sharp knife
- make two vertical cuts about 1 1/2 inch apart on each side of the backbone
- all the way from the neck to the tail. Cut through the bones
- and remove the backbone and tail. Open up the chicken so it lays flat.
- With the chicken still breast side down
- use your sharp knife to slice through the cartilage at the top of the breast bone
- working from the inside of the chicken. Hold the chicken in your two hands
- and bend it backwards to make the breastbone pop out; pull out the breastbone and the cartilage. Use your knife to slice out the ribs from the inside
- if you desire. Try not to cut through the skin.
- In a small bowl
- mix the sage
- salt
- and black pepper. Use your fingers to rub the sage mixture all over the inside and outside of the chicken
- and push the seasonings under the skin as well.
- Melt butter with olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Have a second heavy skillet (such as a cast-iron skillet) or a heavy Dutch oven ready for flattening the chicken. (If you don\’t have either of those things
- wrap a brick in aluminum foil.) When the oil and butter just begin to give off wisps of smoke
- place the chicken into the skillet
- skin side down and flat. The “knees” of the chicken legs should point towards each other so the legs are flat. Place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the chicken
- and weight it down with the heavy skillet or Dutch oven to press the chicken down as it cooks.
- Cook the chicken until the skin is crisp and browned
- 12 to 15 minutes; carefully remove the weight and foil
- and turn the chicken over so the opened-up side is down. Replace the foil and weight
- and cook the chicken until the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink at the bone
- about 15 more minutes. An instant-read thermometer inserted into thigh meat
- not touching bone
- should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr
Servings: 4