Chicken under a Skillet



Normally, you would put the chicken IN the skillet, right? I wanted to do chicken under a brick, but I thought I would bet better coverage with a heavy old cast iron pan, so that is what I did. Having the weight and the balsamic vinegar on the chicken give it a lovely, crunchy skin while the inside is nice and buttery. 

Ingredients:

4 skin on chicken thighs
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons herbes de Provence or other seasoning blend

Directions:

Put the chicken on a plate and rub the oil and vinegar over it. Sprinkle with salt and then seasoning blend. Let rest for 15 minutes in the fridge. Oil your grill by putting a little oil on some paper towels and rubbing that over the grill grates (I use tongs to hold the paper towels). Heat your grill to medium heat. Cover the bottom of a 10 inch cast iron skillet with foil, spray with cooking spray (it is very easy if you just turn the skillet bottom side up). Set  aside.

Remove the chicken from the fridge and tap off any excess liquid by holding it with tongs over a paper towel. This will prevent flare ups (no need to wipe off the chicken, just hold it with tongs and let the excess liquid drip off the edge).

Place the chicken, skin side down, on the grill and place the skillet over the chicken with the foiled and sprayed bottom of the skillet making contact with the chicken. Cook for 6-8 minutes or until the chicken lifts without sticking. Remove the skillet (use hot pads, please--the skillet gets very hot). Flip the chicken over, put the skillet back on top and cook for another 6-8 minutes or until you have an internal temp of about 165 degrees F.

If you have big flare ups during the grilling, just remove the skillet (using hot pads) and move the chicken to a cooler part of the grill until the flames die down.

Put the chicken on a clean plate and let rest for 5 minutes and dive in!

PS-on the side, I just tossed some veggies in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and herbes de Provence (just like the chicken) threaded them on soaked wooden skewers and cooked for the same amount of time.