Chicken Under A Brick Recipe

Chicken under a brick (or brick chicken) simply refers to a bird that has been spatchcocked or had its backbone removed. It is then covered with a brick to flatten it and either grilled or cooked at high heat in the oven. The original recipe is thought to be italian, but is now common all over the world. While removing the backbone and weighing down with bricks may seem like a lot of work for a chicken, it's absolutely worth the trouble. It's not easy to cook a whole chicken so that both the dark and white meat are juicy and the skin is perfectly browned and crisp. Preparing the chicken this way allows for a more even cooking surface and the heavy bricks help to keep it as flat as possible. Although it sounds as if it requires a great deal of culinary expertise, spatchcocking a chicken is actually quite simple and all you really need is a good pair of kitchen shears. Place the chicken, breast-side-down, on a cutting board. Using the shears, cut away the backbone on each side and remove. Flip over the bird and press it down to flatten it. You can also just ask your butcher to do it for you.