Time: 1 hour plus marinating time
Complexity: easily
Servings: 4

This festive chicken will impress your guests with its flavor, juiciness, and incredibly crispy skin. You don't even need to preheat the oven: the chicken is fried in a skillet! To make it easier to fry the whole chicken, butterfly it, removing any excess bones and flattening the chicken. Then, refrigerate it overnight to allow the skin to dry thoroughly—this is the key to a super-crispy skin. To ensure even frying, weigh down the flattened chicken in the skillet with a foil-wrapped brick (or other weight). This method eliminates the need to constantly turn the chicken. Simply adjust the heat and time the cooking time.

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken weighing 1.3 - 1.8 kg.
• 2 tbsp. l. olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed in their skins
• 4-5 sprigs of fresh herbs, such as rosemary, thyme, and sage
• 1 lemon, cut into 4 pieces

Substituting ingredients
Measuring containers used

1 glass (st.) - 250 ml.
3/4 cup (st.) - 180 ml.
2/3 cup (st.) - 160 ml.
1/2 cup (st.) - 125 ml.
1/3 cup (st.) - 80 ml.
1/4 cup (st.) - 60 ml.
1 tablespoon (tbsp) - 15 ml.
1 teaspoon (tsp) - 5 ml.
1/5 teaspoon (tsp) - 1 ml.

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chicken, lemon, rosemary, thyme, sage

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Preparation:

Step 1
• Butterfly the chicken:
  Using kitchen shears, remove the backbone from the chicken. Place the chicken breast-side down on a cutting board and use a large knife to cut through the breastbone. Flatten the chicken with your hands, pressing it against the board. Trim the wing tips. Now find the femur. Using a small, sharp knife, trim the meat off the bone all the way to the joint. Once you reach the joint, bend the femur back until you hear a snap, and use the knife to completely remove the femur. Repeat with the other femur.
Step 2
• Turn the chicken over, pat it dry with paper towels, and refrigerate it on a large plate or baking sheet, uncovered, overnight to dry out the skin (this will make it even crispier). If you must skip this step, pat the chicken dry as best you can with paper towels and refrigerate, uncovered, for as long as time allows.
Step 3
• Generously salt and pepper the chicken.
Step 4
• In a large (30 cm) cast iron or nonstick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Place the chicken in the skillet, skin side down. Add the garlic and herbs to the skillet. Now, take two bricks wrapped in foil or another smaller, heavy skillet and place large cans (such as tomato cans) directly on top of the chicken. Cook without disturbing the chicken, but check occasionally to ensure the skin is browning evenly, but not too quickly.
Step 5
• Adjust the heat as needed and roast until almost all the meat is white (except the very top of the breast) and the skin is deep golden brown and crisp, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the bricks or weights and turn the chicken over with tongs or spatulas, being careful not to pierce the skin. Continue roasting until a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the breast registers 165°F (74°C), another 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 6
• Remove the chicken from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes before carving. Serve with lemon wedges.

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