I fell in love with this recipe the minute I saw it on Tyler’s ultimate. The combination of spices and the look of the finished dish were too good to miss. But what was really interesting was the way he cooked the chicken.
The chicken was split down the back and then fried in a pan with a brick on top (hence the name brick chicken) untill the skin is golden brown and crisp and then it is finished in the oven to cook it through.
I looked for the “brick” part of the recipe for a few weeks and couldn’t find it so I finally decided to give it a go without it.
The part I loved the most was preparing the marinade, it should truly be listed as a form of aromatherapy. When you toast your own spices then grind them your kitchen will be filled with a cloud of spices, it is intoxicating.
This recipe is really simple to make and the result is impressive to say the least. Instead of serving this with Apricot couscous and flat bread, I served it with olive oil rosemary wheat thins (recipe coming your way tomorrow) and mint yogurt.
In one word it was a meal to remember (ok more than one word lol)
Brick chicken (recipe adapted from Tyler ultimate)
2 tablespoons cumin seed
2 tablespoons whole coriander
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
Juice of one lemon
1 whole chicken (3 pounds), split
olive oil
Directions
Toast cumin, coriander and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over low heat until you can smell their beautiful scent.
In a clean spice grinder or coffee grinder, blend spices.
Add the spices to a bowl then add paprika, salt and cayenne.
Stir in the olive oil and lemon juice.
Prepare chicken by splitting it down the back and removing the backbone, breast bone and rib cage. Lay the chicken out flat and rub the blended spices all over. Marinate for up to 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Heat a large cast iron skillet (or other heavy oven-proof pan) over medium-high heat.
When hot, add a 2 tablespoons of olive oil and place the chicken skin side down in the pan.
Cover it with a second cast iron pan (you could also use a more traditional foil-wrapped brick) immediately so the skin doesn’t have time to contract.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 10 to 15 minutes until chicken is golden brown and has a nice crust.
Finish cooking in the oven for a further 20 to 25 minutes.
Serve with minty yogurt and rosemary olive oil wheat thins
Before I let you go ..here are a few pictures of our new pets 🙂 who are still nameless!..
For the moment the are he (the wall climbing greenish yellow one) and she (AKA the wild one seen here in blue)
Chef in disguise 