Dirty Dishes Blog: Brick-Grilled Chicken

As summer is officially here, cookouts are in full swing and festival season is hot and, well, inebriated, no one really wants to be inside.  We all want to be out on patios with a cocktail, at the beach or just having a low-key summer barbecue.  When grilling out with friends, I do not want to be stuck behind the kitchen counter or the hot grill.  Simplicity is key, however sometimes you are still out to impress.  This is where a Brick-Grilled Chicken works perfectly!  Take a whole chicken, butterfly it, marinate and grill...easy, right?  This recipe is super nice to have in your back pocket because it is highly versatile, can easy be modified to what you have in your house, or your friend house and does not take a lot of time.  Since discovering this recipe, I now keep a whole chicken in my freezer at all times.  

The most intimidating part of this recipe is the prep process, because you have to remove the backbone from the chicken.  You could probably have a butcher do it for you but what's the fun in that.  If you do it yourself, you can start a freezer bag of backbones and make your own stock.  You'll thank me later this winter when you make a chicken soup with homemade stock.

Brick-Grilled Chicken

Serves 4 to 6

1 (4 - 5 lb) Whole Chicken, Butterflied

1 Cup Olive Oil

¼ Cup Lemon Juice

6 Garlic Cloves, Minced

2 Tblsp Chopped Fresh Oregano

Kosher Salt

1 - 2 bricks, wrapped in aluminum foil

To butterfly the chicken, lay the chicken breast side down with the legs facing towards you.  With a large knife, cut along the length of the backbone from the top of the breast to the legs.  Using a boning knife, or other sharp knife, cut along the backbone the full length of the bird.  Do this on both sides.  Flip the chicken over, make small slit in the center and press the chicken flat.  

Boom!  Chicken Butterflied!

In a bowl mix, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and chopped oregano.  

Place the butterflied chicken into a gallon size storage bag and pour the lemon juice mixture over the chicken in the bag.  Seal the bag and then gently move the liquid around the chicken and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat grill to medium.  Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1 - 2 hours before cooking so it can reach room temperature.  Take the chicken out of the bag, pat it dry.  I like to rub a light glaze of canola oil on both sides of the chicken to keep it from sticking to the grill grates.  

Place the chicken breast side down on the grill, place the brick on top of the and cook for 15 - 20 minutes.  Flip the chicken, replace the brick on top of the chicken and cook for another 15 - 20 minutes or an internal temperature at the thighs of 165 deg.  Remove from the grill and let rest for 10 - 15 minutes.  Break down the chicken in pieces - legs, thighs, breasts (I cut each breast in half), wings - and serve.  

This recipe is inspired by Michael Symon’s Brick-Grilled Chicken recipe from Carnivore, but, as mentioned above, you can make this your own by changing the herbs or changing the lemon juice to lime juice, orange juice or any other acidic liquid.  The day I made this, I swapped out lemon juice for lime juice and used chopped fresh dill.  Whatever you have you can make it work.

I serve this with a salsa verde and any summertime salad or side.  I paired with homemade macaroni and cheese and a summer salad with arugula, asparagus, goat cheese and rhubarb (recipe compliments of Stephanie Izard, Girl in the Kitchen).  

To drink?  How about the Deschutes/Great Lakes Class of ‘88 Imperial Smoked Porter collaboration, although, any imperial smoked porter will pair well too.