Italian Chicken Under A Brick

It was time to fire up the BBQ this weekend because we have been working hard on our backyard makeover and neglecting the grill. Ok it is more than a makeover it is a complete start from scratch, hence why my posts have been far and few between lately (which I will correct).

Today’s recipe comes from Emeril and his book Emeril at the Grill. In Emerils recipe he has you bone a chicken and grill it flat with bricks on top. What a cool idea, but I didn’t have a whole chicken when I tried this so chick breasts it was. My next attempt at this will certainly be a whole boned chicken.
 
Back to the bricks, find yourself some old bricks. Lucky for me, we are putting down about 5 million pavers (in the backyard) so finding candidates for the grill was not hard. I just had to look at the pallets in my driveway. Wrap your bricks with aluminum foil and heat them prior to grilling the chicken.

Another thing to think about is that you want to marinate the chicken for 2-6 hours. I recommend at least 4. This way the herbs and lemon juice penetrates the chicken.

Ingredients

1 cup olive oil
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
One 3 to 3/12 pound chicken (or six chicken breasts)
2-3 bricks completely wrapped in aluminum foil
2 teaspoons Emeril’s Creole Seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground white pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic, rosemary, parsley, thyme, salt, and crushed red pepper. Mix and set the marinade aside.

If you are using the whole chicken, bone the chicken now. Put the boned chicken or chicken breasts in a nonreactive baking dish and pour the marinade over the chicken. Cover completely and turn. Cover and refrigerate for 2-6 hours. Turning the chicken occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F and preheat a grill to medium-low.

Heat the bricks in the oven for 20 minutes (Or you can heat your bricks on the grill for 30 minutes).

Remove the chicken from the marinade and discard the marinade. Season both sides of the chicken with Emeril’s Creole Seasoning, salt, and white pepper.

Place the chicken on the grill and set the bricks on top to cover it completely and flatten. Cook until the chicken has nice grill marks, about 10 minutes. Then turn the chicken 45 degrees and cook until a second set of grill marks forms, about 10 minutes.

Using pot holders, remove the bricks and set them aside. Turn the chicken over. Cook until the juices run clear or an instant-read thermometer registers 165 degrees, about 10 minutes.

Note: your total cook time may vary based on the tempurature of your grill. I was using charcoal and cooked faster than a gas BBQ set to medium-low.

When the chicken is done, take off the grill and let rest for 5 minutes.

Note: to add a little flash, cut some lemons in halve and place face down on the grill and cook until blackened a bit. Then serve with the chicken as a garnish.