As much as people like to hate on chicken because it's "bland" and "tasteless" I still think chicken is pretty good. (Now, boneless, skinless breasts? They have no flavor unless you're cooking them in something, but that's another blog post.) Especially a nice roasted chicken. But sometimes I don't have the time to roast a whole chicken. That's where the brick comes in.
This recipe is probably printed everywhere, but for reference I went with the one from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything (which is a great book). I spatchcocked the chicken, seasoned it with salt, pepper and paprika, and then threw it skin side down into a med-hot pan with my dutch oven on top as a weight. 10 minutes on the stove, 15 minutes in a 475°F oven, and then flipped it for 10 more minutes. Fucking amazing.
Also made buttermilk mashed potatoes, a little quick gravy and this awesome garlic broccoli cole slaw.
Garlic Broccoli Coleslaw
As much as I hate Melissa Clark from the NY Times food section, this is an adaptation of her raw broccoli salad fused with Alton Brown's Fresh Broccoli Salad.
- 2 heads broccoli, florets cut into bite size pieces, stems peeled shredded on a mandoline
- 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbls lemon juice
- 1 tbls white wine or champagne vinegar
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbls toasted sesame seeds
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 tbls cumin seeds
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Mix the vinegar, lemon juice and salt in a bowl, toss the broccoli in this and set aside
- Put olive oil in a medium hot pan over the stove and let it warm until it shimmers; add the garlic and cumin and let cook for a few moments. When the garlic just starts to toast, pull from the heat and pour into a heat proof container. Add the sesame oil and red pepper flakes, stir and let stand a minute to cool down.
- Pour over the broccoli and add the sesame seeds; toss to coat.
- Let stand, room temperature for at least an hour before serving.
I'm no chef. I'm barely a cook. And certainly not in the professional sense. I work in mobile for a living, but I enjoy cooking almost as much as I love 
