baking - Beer And Iron

April 17, 2021

Double Cast Iron Skillet Chicken in Beer and Lemon Broth

Double Cast Iron Skillet Chicken in Beer and Lemon Broth

This recipe has morphed from Beer and Iron’s Rockin’ Chicken recipe that is cooked outside to this inside version that has all together become an entirely different...and delicious...recipe. The concept here is to use a hot cast iron skillet to “hold the chicken” down in the skillet the chicken is cooking in. Both skillets will end up being used to cook in with one starting out at the chicken cooking pan and then the other being the chicken “keep-it-warm-and-serve-from” pan.

Just like the Rockin’ Chicken recipe, this involves a bit of butchering...but not much. Remember how to spatchcock a chicken? Yes? No? Either way, this recipe will cover the process as a reminder.

Spatchcocking is a butchering process to remove the spine of a chicken and press down on the breast bone, so that the chicken lays completely flat during the cooking process. Some say this is unnecessary for flavor. And, yes...they are completely correct. However, spatchcocking does change the way the chicken is cooked.

We brined this chicken for 24 hours before we cooked it. Beer will be added to the sauce. Though I usually brine with beer, brining a whole bird with beer requires a lot of beer. And, well, beer ain’t cheap. We used 6 cups of water, 6 tablespoons of salt, a tablespoon of rosemary and a tablespoon of thyme. Warm the brine to a simmer and then let it cool down. Add a bit of ice to get it a bit cold and pour it over the whole chicken in a container where the chicken is submerged.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mediterranean

Servings People

Calories 856 kcal

Equipment

Two 12” Skillets
Spatula
Knife
Kitchen Shears or Butcher Knife
Cutting Board
Meat Thermometer (optional)

Ingredients

3-4 lb. Chicken patted dry
Kosher salt Season the chicken before adding it to the 12” cast iron skillet
Pepper Season the chicken before adding it to the 12” cast iron skillet
2 Tbsp. Oil Or Butter, or Bacon Grease
1 Medium Onion Finely Chopped
½ tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes Optional
¼ cup Beer
¼ cup Fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp. Butter Salted or Unsalted
½ cup Chopped Parsley To Bring it Home

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F / 177°C
Place two cast iron skillets in the oven to preheat as well. You could add some oil to the skillets and get a bit of make-shift seasoning and to avoid a “sear-stick incident.” One should be the main 12” cooking skillet. The other one could be a 2nd 12” but a 10.25” will work A-OK. You could even go for a 14” or 15” with a 12” as a top, weight-it-down skillet.
Place chicken on the cutting board and use a butcher knife or kitchen shears to remove the wing tips (there ain’t no meat on those wingtips anyway and they will be an annoyance during this cook).
Turn the chicken breast side down and use shears or a butcher knife to cut along both sides of the backbone.
Remove the backbone and toss or use it to make broth for another recipe.
Lay the spatchcock-cut chicken flat. You may have to press the ribs down.
Season generously on both sides with salt and pepper and let sit at room temperature at least 30 minutes and up to 60 minutes (but 65 minutes will be A-OK if you have a swallow of beer left and you ain’t done telling your story).
Remove one of the two preheated skillets from the oven. We’ll call this our “cooking skillet.”
Add oil to your 12” cooking skillet, then place the chicken skin side down in the oil. It will start to sizzle and pop!
Pull the second cast iron skillet out and add a bit of oil, bacon grease or butter to the bottom of the second, hot skillet.
Place the second hot skillet over chicken to weigh it down.
Cook until the skin is deep golden brown and crisp. That’ll take 10 minutes (give or take). Remove the top skillet and turn the chicken skin side up. Don’t that look pretty?
Place the top skillet and let the other side of the chicken sear for about 10 minutes as well (give or take).
Transfer the skillet-chicken-skillet stack to the oven; you may still hear some sizzling here.
Roast the chicken just until “almost” cooked at 155°F / 69°C. I use a temperature probe and sit on the sofa to enjoy the rest of my beer while I watch that temperature.
Once you reach 155°F / 69°C, carefully remove the chicken-skillet sandwich from the oven and remove the top skillet. Transfer the chicken from the bottom cooking skillet over to the other skillet that was on top. Leave the juices in the first skillet.
Keep the chicken skin-side-up and take care in transferring it. You don’t want it to fall apart.
Replace the meat thermometer back into the chicken and place the chicken back in the oven.
The skillet we initially cooked the chicken in has some nice juices and bits and pieces of awesomeness. Pour this over into another container. I use a small cast iron skillet that I keep warm. We’re gonna use the broth in a bit and saute our onions in this skillet with the awesomeness that needs deglazing.
Set the cooking skillet over medium heat and add onion and red pepper flakes (optional and not used in the photographs). Cook, stirring often, until the onions are cooking well.
Add the beer and lemon juice mix about.
Reduce heat to medium-low and add 2 tablespoons of butter and let the butter melt. Pour in juices that the chicken cook created.
While watching your chicken temperature, let this beer/broth/butter-based sauce simmer down a bit and thicken up...but not too much.
When the chicken reaches 165°F / 74°C, remove it from the oven and pour the beer/broth/butter sauce over the top and let the onions even out over the surface.
Sprinkle some dry or fresh parsley over the top to “bring it home.”

Nutrition

Calories: 856kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 63gFat: 65gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 271mgSodium: 291mgPotassium: 649mgSugar: 1gVitamin A: 661IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 40mgIron: 3mg

Keyword baked, beer, Cast iron, cast iron pan, cast iron skillet, chicken, fried, fry, lemon, onion, pan, Skillet

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Chicken, Dinner, Lunch, Meal, Meats, Supper, Uncategorized

by Sulae @ beerandiron.com

Tag: baking

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