publican chicken and roasted brussels sprouts

i haven't had much to blog about lately. i have been either eating out at places i have already blogged about, or else devouring all the delicious heirloom tomatoes i can get my hands on. my basil plant is going crazy so i'm going to need to make pesto soon. and i got the craving for caesar salad the other day so i whipped up a batch of my caesar dressing and some homemade garlic croutons and ate yummy salads for days.

i literally cannot get enough heirloom tomatoes

today i was on my way home from work and i was in the mood to cook. all of a sudden i was hit with a craving... the sweet and salty, crunchy, juicy chicken that i ate at the publican with lavine while i was in chicago over labor day. but i didn't have a recipe. what to do... i decided to hit the store and see what i could figure out.

i ate caesar salad for five days in a row and did not get sick of it

lavine and i had discussed the issue of ingredients in depth while i was visiting her and we had decided that we thought it was a brined chicken. we were pretty sure there was brown sugar and thyme involved. and it was crispy as hell on the outside and perfectly tender and juicy on the inside, so there had to be some sort of high heat/low heat thing going on.

once i got to the store it was time to do some improvising. no way in hell was i going to have time to cook a chicken whole so i got some mix of parts called "pick of the chick" which turned out to be two legs, two thighs, and two breasts (all bone in). of course, there would be no time to brine so i thought maybe i could marinate it for a bit in lemon to get the same effect (tender + juicy). light brown or dark brown sugar? i guessed and chose light brown. i also wanted some garlic although i couldn't really remember that flavor in the chicken at the restaurant.

here is a picture of how it looked at the restaurant...

at home i knew i had some dried thyme and fresh rosemary that i wanted to use. i knew there was no rosemary in the publican's chicken, but when i was eating it i remembered wishing it was there. i also have a big fat awesome rosemary plant that i do not use enough so i was looking for an excuse.

i got home and decided to google the recipe, just a shot in the dark. and guess what... it's on the ny times! clearly this was a sign. one of the keys to this recipe is the espelette pepper. i do not have that on hand (i had never even heard of it before) but i did happen to have some spanish paprika and i found that plus a pinch of cayenne to be a perfectly acceptable substitute. here is the recipe with my modifications in italics:

publican chicken a la liz

Time: 40 minutes, plus at least 1 hour’s marinating

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (i probably used 4 T. because i wanted it to tenderize quickly)

1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon Espelette pepper or Spanish smoked hot paprika (i used the paprika plus maybe 1/4 t. of cayenne)

1 tablespoon dried oregano (i don't care what this recipe says, it was thyme at the restaurant. i don't really like oregano so i used approximately 1 t. dried thyme and 1 T. chopped fresh rosemary)

2 cloves garlic, sliced (i used 5 cloves, smashed and roughly chopped)

1/2 teaspoon salt (i substituted with about 1/4 t. salt and 1/2 t. lawry's)

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 3-pound chicken, backbone removed. (like i said i used "pick of the chick," aka 2 legs, 2 thighs, and 2 breasts, all bone in)

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, brown sugar, Espelette pepper or hot paprika, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper. Mix well.

2. Flatten chicken and add to marinade, turning it until coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour or overnight. (i marinated one hour and it was soooo flavorful. overnight would be amazing i'm guessing.)

3. Prepare a grill, arranging coals or gas flame so it is hot on only one side. Place chicken skin-side down on unheated side of grill (so it will cook by indirect heat). Grill, basting every 5 minutes and turning chicken once about halfway through, until juices run clear when chicken is pierced near joint of thigh, about 30 minutes. (ok so what i had to do was actually turn on the unheated side of my grill to low for about 5 minutes total, about 10 min in, because i was scared it was not going to cook fully for hours. this worked fine. the skin was a little charred but i like it that way. you will need to mess with cooking times and temperatures based on your grill.)

4. Remove chicken from grill and allow to rest 5 minutes. Carve as desired, and serve.

Yield: 2 servings. (uh, more like 4 i would say)

this. came. out. awesome. oh my god. dare i say it? i think it was better than at the publican (i am waiting to get struck down as we speak). it was just even more flavorful and delicious than theirs. i know i sound full of myself but this chicken was crazy good. i think i am going to go pick on some out of the fridge right now.

ok i'm back. oh my GOD that was good. damn.

...and here is how it looked in my kitchen

to go with my chicken, i made some trader joe's garlic fries. yum. i also decided i had to have some roasted brussels sprouts. i have been messing around with recipes on this one for a while... it's really hard because i have an ornery old oven that refuses to stay at one temperature which is kind of necessary to the caramelization process of those thin little leaves that love to burn.

after lots of tries, i think i have perfected it. or as much as my oven will allow me to anyway. here you go. good luck.

liz's it's not crack it's brussels sprouts yo

1 lb. brussels sprouts
4 T. extra virgin olive oil
2 T. peanut oil
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 T. sherry vinegar
grated parmesan cheese to taste
salt and pepper to taste

rinse the brussels sprouts and chop off the little brown bit on the stem. soak them in cold, salty water for about 20 min. dry them off. slice them in half lengthwise.

heat up your oven to 400 degrees. meanwhile, heat up the oil in a cast iron skillet. when it is hot throw in the brussels sprouts and then the garlic. you will probably get splashed with little flecks of hot oil. sorry about that. cook the sprouts until they start to get brown, then mix them up and keep cooking. this will take about 7 minutes i'm guessing.

once they are browned on both sides, add some salt and pepper. then put the whole pan in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until they are really soft and caramelized. you will need to stir them a few times while they are in there. take the pan out and leave it on the stove for a few minutes until the sprouts cool off a bit, then add the sherry vinegar and mix and then grate the parmesan on top. you can also add more salt and pepper if you want. try not to eat all of the sprouts out of the pan immediately. serve.