Brick chicken - better than Vesuvio

Many posters have waxed philosophic about their favorite chicken vesuvio in the past (mine was the recently closed Cannella's on Grand). But now we've discovered a chicken preparation that's even better.

Brick chicken, as now served in all of the Rosebud restaurants (and apparently now one of their biggest sellers) is a completely deboned whole chicken, marinated overnight in what tastes like a garlic-lemon-oregano preparation of some sort, and weighted down in the pan during cooking (hence, the term "brick", which some recipes specify as the means of applying weight). The result is outstanding. The entire chicken comes out completely flat. Both the white and dark meat are incredibly juicy and flavorful throughout, while the flat topping of skin is completely crispy and crunchy. I only wish I had the technical expertise to post pictures.

Ballo's manager, Johnny Mulligan, explained to us brick chicken's history within the Rosebud organization. Apparently it's been available only at the Highland Park location for quite some time, and it's always been a huge seller there. Now, they've just recently rolled it out at the other restaurants. The Mary and the Don first discovered it at Ballo's about a month ago, but now we've also tried it at their steakhouse on Walton, Carmine's, and Rosebud on Rush (for us, those are all neighborhood spots we can walk to).

There are some differences from restaurant to restaurant. Rosebud Steakhouse seems to want to serve it with a thick oreganato sauce, which is tasty, but you should ask for the sauce on the side the first time, as the dish is so juicy and flavorful by itself, the sauce is superfluous. Ballo's version is our favorite, in large part because it's the only location that routinely serves it with what they call "crispy potatoes", a variation of Osteria Via Stato's wonderful Calabrian potatoes. We're told that the small red potatoes are soaked overnight, then smashed flat, then deep fried. Super crisp on the outside, and as soft as mashed potatoes on the inside, these potatoes are a perfect side to the brick chicken.

We've been able to find a couple of brick chicken recipes online, but we'd sure like to know if there are any other restaurants serving the dish. It is really good, not at all like any other chicken dish we've had, and, as you can imagine, a de-boned 3 pound chicken leaves plenty to take home.

Ballo
449 N. Dearborn
312-832-7700

You might want to look for the name pollo al mattone or "Chicken Under a Brick". I remember hearing it offered as a special somewhere, but I can't recall the restaurant. The only place that comes to mind immediately is Coco Pazzo's polletto al mattone, which is a cornish hen rather than a full chicken. Perhaps you might enjoy this dish, since it is much less likely to leave tons of leftovers.

To me, "Chicken Under a Brick" has always been one of those classic cookbook recipes that you can find everywhere from Cooks Illustrated to The Babbo Cookbook, perfect for feeding a family quickly and economically. I've always thought of it as something you make at home rather than heading out for.

Rosebud's veresion sounds delicious. Thanks for the tip.

Coco Pazzo
300 W Hubbard
312-836-0900

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:To me, "Chicken Under a Brick" has always been one of those classic cookbook recipes that you can find everywhere from Cooks Illustrated to The Babbo Cookbook, perfect for feeding a family quickly and economically. I've always thought of it as something you make at home rather than heading out for.

If your definition of "easy home cooking" includes completely de-boning a chicken, then I KNOW i gotta brush up on my cooking skills!

That was my immediate reaction when I read eatchicago's post. I wasn't going to say anything, thinking maybe grocery stores sell completely de-boned whole chickens, and I just missed it. But as long as jonjonjon beat me to it, I guess I'll chime in with the same reaction. That, and marinading overnight in some sort of intense mixture that gives rise to such a flavorful and moist final dish. As I said before, I wish I had the wherewithal to post pix, because as the beautiful platter comes to the table with the "crispy potatoes" and buttery broccolini (at least at Ballo, it does), I could not picture that as anything I've ever seen produced as "home cooking".

The de-boning of the bird is a style choice of Ballo's. Traditional "Chicken Under a Brick" involves a butterflied chicken, commonly rubbed in oil, herbs and spices, or marinated overnight if you have the time.

Best,
Michael

I had this at Frasca a few weeks back and while I can't remember why this was my expectation (seen on TV, maybe), I expected a butterflied chicken, nice bits of browning on the bones and so on. Instead it was two chicken breasts, boned but not split. Still a nice dish, I think the brick helps white meat keep moisture. I don't think theirs was necessarily marinated, but cooked in a nice wine-butter sauce.

We use the straight cook's illustrated recipe. Snip out the backbone, flatten the breastbone, rub with oil and cook skin-down under a brick (we use a foil wrapped cast iron pan) on the stovetop for about 20 minutes. Fill the pan with potato wedges and put the chicken on top, skin side up (and smeared with an herb/garlic blend), in a hot oven for another 25 minutes or until it reaches temp. Pull out the chicken and finish the potatoes while the chicken rests.

It's terrifically juicy and flavorful, with the crispy skin I die for. And it's remarkably easy.

gleam wrote:We use the straight cook's illustrated recipe... It's terrifically juicy and flavorful, with the crispy skin I die for. And it's remarkably easy.

I have been making brick chicken over the years with varying results. Do you remember the year it was featured in cook's illustrated?

AngrySarah wrote:

gleam wrote:We use the straight cook's illustrated recipe... It's terrifically juicy and flavorful, with the crispy skin I die for. And it's remarkably easy.

I have been making brick chicken over the years with varying results. Do you remember the year it was featured in cook's illustrated?

Not exactly sure when it was in the magazine, but it is available on their website to paid subscribers. But it was also on 'America's Test Kitchen', which publishes the recipe on their website, available to free subscribers:

http://americastestkitchen.com/recipe.a ... &iSeason=5

Best,
Michael

I use ATK/Cook's Illustrated interchangably..

The recipe we use is the ATK recipe, also available from CooksIllustrated.com if you have a membership.

We basically only make it if we can find small chickens in the 3 lb range. Unfortunately, most of the Mexican and American groceries near here sell only 4+ lb chickens. Our personal favorites are the halal chickens available from Sahar Meat Market near Kedzie and Lawrence, but we don't get up that way often.

I have to admit, I'm very impressed by the gourmet cook posters here. We're both empty nesters who still work, neither of us can cook, and so we eat dinner in restaurants 4 to 5 times a week (and the other two nights are the ones when we reheat the leftovers). I would be curious, though, if any of you experienced in making brick chicken at home happen to try it at Ballo, or one of the other Rosebud restaurants, to know how they compare. We enjoy this dish quite a bit.

marydon2 wrote:I have to admit, I'm very impressed by the gourmet cook posters here. We're both empty nesters who still work, neither of us can cook, and so we eat dinner in restaurants 4 to 5 times a week (and the other two nights are the ones when we reheat the leftovers). I would be curious, though, if any of you experienced in making brick chicken at home happen to try it at Ballo, or one of the other Rosebud restaurants, to know how they compare. We enjoy this dish quite a bit.

I think you sell yourself short

boning(and sectioning) a chicken(with the proper tool-boning knife, or cleaver...but, I usually just use my medium Global chef's knife) is not only a famous cost saver, but, just a good, basic skill to aquire.

I was surprised at your initial apprehension of the brick chicken merely 'cuz it's been a big trend for many years...name a cooking show that doesn't offer the recipe...well, maybe Christina Cooks(*hurl*).

back to fabricating poultry: it's easy, it's (I think) fun, it's cheap, and you can impress friends who should know better

it's hardly gourmet, and quite worthwhile

I think even for a novice cook this is a remarkably easy dish to make. All you need to do to the chicken is cut out the backbone with some poultry shears (snip snip) and smush it a little. And then slice some potatoes and put some herbs in the cuisinart (if that's your bag).

It really cooks itself for the most part.