Whole Chicken In a Pan
- 1 whole fryer chicken, 3 to 4 pounds
- 1 tablespoon dried sage, crumbled
- salt and ground black pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board.
- With a poultry shears or sharp knife, make two vertical cuts about 1 1/2 inch apart on each side of the backbone, all the way from the neck to the tail.
- Cut through the bones, and remove the backbone and tail.
- Open up the chicken so it lays flat.
- With the chicken still breast side down, use your sharp knife to slice through the cartilage at the top of the breast bone, working from the inside of the chicken.
- Hold the chicken in your two hands, and bend it backwards to make the breastbone pop out; pull out the breastbone and the cartilage.
- Use your knife to slice out the ribs from the inside, if you desire.
- Try not to cut through the skin.
- In a small bowl, mix the sage, salt, and black pepper.
- Use your fingers to rub the sage mixture all over the inside and outside of the chicken, and push the seasonings under the skin as well.
- Melt butter with olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
- Have a second heavy skillet (such as a cast-iron skillet) or a heavy Dutch oven ready for flattening the chicken.
- (If you don't have either of those things, wrap a brick in aluminum foil.)
- When the oil and butter just begin to give off wisps of smoke, place the chicken into the skillet, skin side down and flat.
- The "knees" of the chicken legs should point towards each other so the legs are flat.
- Place a piece of aluminum foil on top of the chicken, and weight it down with the heavy skillet or Dutch oven to press the chicken down as it cooks.
- Cook the chicken until the skin is crisp and browned, 12 to 15 minutes; carefully remove the weight and foil, and turn the chicken over so the opened-up side is down.
- Replace the foil and weight, and cook the chicken until the juices run clear and the meat is no longer pink at the bone, about 15 more minutes.
- An instant-read thermometer inserted into thigh meat, not touching bone, should read at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C).
fryer chicken, sage, salt, butter, olive oil
Taken from allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-chicken-in-a-pan/ (may not work)