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Craig Claiborne’s Smothered Chicken
Updated July 5, 2024
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- Total Time
- 1 hour 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 1chicken, about 3½ pounds, spatchcocked (split down the backbone, breast left intact and unsplit)
- Kosher salt, to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1½cups chicken broth, ideally homemade
Preparation
- Step 1
Craig Claiborne believed a cast-iron skillet to be essential for the authentic preparation of this dish. Sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Select a skillet large enough to hold the chicken comfortably when it is opened up, as for broiling. Fold wings under to secure them.
- Step 2
Melt the butter in the pan and add the chicken, skin side down. Cover chicken with a plate that will fit comfortably inside the skillet. Place a heavy can, stone or brick on top of the plate to weigh it down. Cook over low heat, checking the chicken skin, until it is nicely browned, about 25 minutes.
- Step 3
Remove weight and plate. Turn chicken so skin side is up. Replace plate and weight and continue cooking for about 15 minutes more.
- Step 4
Remove chicken and pour off fat from the skillet, leaving about 2 tablespoons in the pan. Add the flour to the fat, stirring with a wire whisk over medium heat. Gradually add the chicken broth and, when thickened, return chicken to the skillet, skin side up. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cover with the plate and weight and continue cooking over low heat about 20 to 30 minutes longer or until the meat is exceptionally tender. Spoon the sauce over it.
- Step 5
Cut chicken into serving pieces, and serve with the sauce and fluffy rice on the side.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Absolutely delicious. Have made this at least ten times. Prefer it with bone in thighs.
I usually add a splash of white wine, a few sprigs of thyme, & 2-3 garlic cloves to the gravy.
To truly have tender chicken, braise in the gravy for an hour--needs much longer than 20-30 mins.
The most important tip I've (finally) learned is to thoroughly pat the skin dry before putting in. Best to let the chicken or meat come to room temp, maybe even put some salt on to draw moisture out. Then pat dry. Took me decades, but this works for all cooking. This recipe is great training. I love it. I agreed with the comment below about starting the pan a little hotter, then turning it down with the weight on.
I've been buying whole chickens, spatchcocked, at my local butcher shop: the right size for cast-iron preparations. I know everyone else has raved about this recipe, but my husband and I found it dated. We felt like our mothers cooked this in the '60s. The sauce is bland and full of calories. Next time I'll follow recipe up to gravy step and instead use wine and broth, some thyme and garlic, a dash of sirracha? Otherwise cooking directions are perfect: yields a nicely browned, juicy bird.
Drying thoroughly is helpful. I find that another way to help keep the chicken from sticking is not to disturb it until the skin is well browned. If you try to turn the chicken before the skin is browned the skin will stick to the pan.
I've been cooking chicken this way for 45 years, as my grandmother taught me. Never saw the recipe written down before. Grandma added a little sugar at the browning stage - caramelizes nicely. Of course, Grandma often started with the first rule of cooking chicken - catch the chicken!
That's the trouble with 1950s chicken recipes: they're designed for smaller chickens without all the retained water of today's mainstream versions. A kosher or heritage bird usually solves this problem.
There is a short (1:30) video clearly demonstrating how to spatchcock a chicken at
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/videos/techniques/how-spatchcock-chicken-video
The lady uses kitchen shears to cut the backbone out entirely. After flattening the bird, she uses two long skewers through the breasts and into the opposite thighs to help the chicken hold its flat shape during cooking.
I have Craig Claibornes book: A Feast Made For Laughter. It's a fabulous read if you can still get it I highly recommend you do do. This one did not make it into his top 100 recipes but Lemon Chicken did (very good) Chicken Cutlets Pojarski and Chicken with Noodles Parisienne. He tells a great story, the book is well worth tracking down. Kind regards Ricky
I have made this recipe three times during this difficult winter. I love, love, love it! However, I have not yet mastered the low temperature technique. I have to turn up the heat at first to make sure the pan is quite hot before putting the chicken in. Then I turn it down and "go to town!" I have even made this on a weeknight after work. Deliciously tender with great gravy. Comfort food for an uncomfortable winter!
Superb! Made a couple of minor changes:
Increased flour to 3 tablespoons.
Used full can (2 cups) chicken broth.
Added ¼ cup dry sherry.
Served with buttermilk mashed potatoes, fresh asparagus, and an excellent Beringer Chardonnay!
Just a delicious way to cook a chicken. Great with mashed or smashed potatoes and a nice green salad. Pickled beets are a nice side too.
Video! Yes, love to see Sam cook, as another writer noted. Best versions depend on good chicken and stock. But drying the bird uncovered in the ‘frig helps the skin crisp up. Watched my grandmother make dishes like this - she accompanied with dumplings. Over 60 years ago, I can see her glasses steaming up as she watched over her bird. Most likely from a farmer we knew; summers in New Hampshire, a world we evoke when we cook this way. Thank you for bringing back this kind of timeless recipe.
I followed the recipe for the most part, but used about 4 tablespoons of butter and during the last 30 minutes added about 8 quartered mushrooms that I didn't want to waste because they were getting old. Next time I'll cut the final cooking to about 25 minutes — the chicken was very slightly over done but still delicious. I served the chicken with Claiborne's Kitchen Primer recipe "The Best Way To Make Rice" that I've been making for over forty years.
After digging through the chickens at Whole Foods trying to find a 3.5 pounder (it was already 3:30 pm and I did not want to have to cook this thing for more than the time stated above), I finally discovered one of appropriate size. It turned out gorgeous. the gravy...oh man. I sprinkled a few spoonfuls of it over my salad too...and the other sides I made. The skin came out rich, crispy, buttery. Everything you'd want out of a whole chicken. Very low maintenance cooking. Will do it again :)
Maybe your not using a good pan or butter? Some margarines have water in them as does olive oil which will cause chicken to stick. You need to let the pan heat up a bit, then add butter, just as the butter starts to brown, add the chicken.
Well, we followed this recipe to the letter—to the best of our ability, I guess—and it was watery, bland and breast meat was tough/dry. ??? My husband made it and he was out of sorts and may not have been as diligent as needed in pressing the chicken and getting good browning and bits for the gravy, but “smothered” did not happen. The chicken released a bunch of water in the second cooking, I guess, and I had to reduce the gravy for 10 minutes to get any thickness or flavor from it.
I had some leg quarters from the farmer's market that I didn't know what to do with, so I tried this recipe and oh my goodness, it was so good. I don't understand how. I used boxed chicken broth, added a little cognac and thyme, but otherwise followed the recipe. Will definitely be making this again - it is so much more than the sum of its parts.
The chicken was closer to 6.5 pounds, so naturally did not fit in our largest cast iron skillet. So, we spatchcocked and halved it. Husband cooked one half outside on the grill burner and I did the other half indoors in a Dutch oven (he wouldn't let me use his prized copper bottomed stainless steel saute pan). Outside was slightly burnt, indoors gave off lots of liquid. Ended up melting butter and making the sauce in the Dutch oven. Shallot, garlic, chicken liquid, sherry, mushrooms.
What oven temperature??
A good basic starting point. Home made chicken stock is necessary. make sure you make enough gravy. Do two cups as minimum. Dry skin really helps
Ok sooo I don’t understand the whole plate thing I have good fitting lids for my cast iron.. what am I missing? John
My grandmother was not a happy cook but her smothered chicken was fantastic! She used a deep cast iron skillet which I now possess. Somehow she blackened the floured chicken so that the gravy (water? Milk? Not broth) had that delightful edge, flecked with carbonized crust - I haven’t got it down yet but I keep trying. Made it so much more interesting!
Out of touch then, out of touch now. Homemade stock, spatchcocked chicken. These are the things that make me roll my eyes at the elitist nature of The Times Cooking section. Chicken thighs will be fine. Broth bought in a carton at your favorite grocery store will be fine. We know that cooking from scratch is good for us, but not everything needs to be a project.
What did I miss? Many comments about the temperature of the pan but where is mentioned in the recipe?
I have cooked this chicken recipe many times and every time it comes out great. Everyone who has had it says it's the best chicken they have ever had. Making it tonight with mashed potatoes and freshly shucked peas. Holy moly. My niece is visiting from NYC (I live in Italy) and has requested it.
Chicken was delicious and so was the sauce although it was a little rich. Also wonder if I could have just used a grill press instead of a plate.
Absolutely delicious!
This recipe yielded a very tender bird, but the sauce was too bland for my taste. It was my first time cooking a spatchcock chicken under the brick, so that was exciting. Next time I’ll add a dry rub to the bird and add onions, garlic and thyme to the gravy (maybe wine). I like the idea of getting the pan hot and reducing the heat. As always, make sure the bird is dry.
Follow recipe, not video — 2 tbsp butter only, add all the broth, don’t add wine at all.
Excellent! Made with a pack of thighs instead of whole chicken. Added white wine and a couple dashes of worstershire to the gravy otherwise followed recipe. Previous comments about using a tea kettle for a weight are GENIUS and I will be using that trick for other things.
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