Italian restaurants serve this chicken cooked under a brick on a grill. Another recipes from my favorite right now: America's Test Kitchen.

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
8 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
Pinch of dried red pepper flakes
3 teaspoons thyme
2 teaspoons rosemary

1 3 3/4 - 4 1/4 pound chicken

Mix the salt and pepper together. Simmer the garlic, lemon zest, red pepper in the oil until the garlic softens. Stir in the chopped fresh herbs and simmer briefly. Use a strainer to drain off the olive oil and reserve it. Combine the solids with 1 tablespoon of the salt and pepper mixture.

Wrap two bricks in foil to cover securely. Use poultry shears to cut the backbone out of the chicken. Press down on the breast of the chicken to break down the breast bone so it lies flat. Tuck the wings under the body. Use your hand to loosen the skin from the meat of the chicken, discard any excess fat under the skin. Stick handfuls of the herb and salt paste under the skin on the breast and on the thighs. Season any of the exposed meat with just salt and pepper mixture.

Place the chicken on a rack over a sheet pan in the refrigerator for 2 hours. Start charcoal, about 75 coals, place on one side of the grill. Put the bricks on the cooking grill. Clean your grate once it's heated up and rub with oil on a paper towel (use tongs). Place the chicken on the cooler side of the grill, skin side down, with the drum sticks pointing towards the hot coals. Put the preheated bricks right on top of the breast meat.

Cook 20 - 25 minutes with the cover on the grill. Flip the chicken over and move it over the hot coals, with the breast meat still pointing toward the cooler side. Put the bricks back on it, cover, and cook about 15 minutes until the chicken starts to get browned. Set the bricks aside, and flip the chicken again, skin side down, right over the coals to crisp the skin. Cook until thigh meat registers 170 degrees. Remove to a clean cutting board and let rest 10 minutes. Cut into serving size pieces.

Whisk 2 tablespoons lemon juice into the reserved garlic-flavored oil and season with salt and pepper. Use this to season the servings of chicken.



Instead of a brick you can buy what is called a Grill Press. Or you can use a cast iron skillet. Bricks are cheaper. Whatever you use needs to weigh about 5 pounds.