About the Authors

     

The 2004 winner of the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: New York City award, Andrew Carmellini is a young veteran of some of the world's finest restaurant kitchens. After stints at Lespinasse and Café Boulud--and a year living and cooking in Italy--he opened A Voce, which quickly became one of New York's best-loved and best-reviewed restaurants.

Gwen Hyman has written about food for Gastronomica and Rob Report, among other publications. The author of "Making of a Man: Gentlemanly Appetites in the English Nineteenth-Century Novel," she has taught food writing at NYU and is now an associate professor at the Cooper Union in New York City.

Marinated Chicken alla Griglia

This is a simple marinated chicken--I used to make it all the time at home. The first time I tried this baby out, one of my cooks said to me, “Chef! It tastes just like you marinated the chicken in Wishbone salad dressing!” I don’t care what anyone says: I think this marinade rocks. Left overnight and grilled the next day, the chicken becomes tender, garlicky, and herbaceous, with a deep, tangy flavor. It pairs well with all sorts of accompaniments.

TIMING:

An overnight marinate, plus about 1/2 hour of cooking time

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

For the marinade:

1/4 cup roasted garlic purée (use the technique below)
1/2 cup rice vinegar or white wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup grapeseed oil or corn oil
2 tablespoons dried oregano, preferably on the branch (Sicilian or Calabrian)
2 tablespoons chopped rosemary
1 lemon, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons salt
1 teaspoon coarse-ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

For the chicken: 2 whole chickens, halved
½ teaspoon each of salt and coarse-ground black pepper

METHOD

1. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2. Place the chicken halves in a large container and pour the marinade over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the fridge for at least 8 hours, or overnight.

3. Fire up the grill or preheat the broiler.

4. Remove the chickens from the marinade (but don’t wipe the herbs off; they’re delicious charred right on the skin). Season with more salt and pepper.

5. If you’re using a grill: Place the chickens skin-side down and grill them on high. After 2 minutes, turn the halves 45°. After another 2 minutes, flip the halves over. After another 2 minutes, turn the halves 45° again. Turn the heat down to medium and cook the chicken until the juice runs clear when you stick a leg with a knife, about 20 minutes, depending on your grill.
OR
If you’re using a broiler: Place the chickens on a roasting rack and broil them until the skins are crisp, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to 425° and bake the chicken until the juice runs clear when you stick a leg with a knife, about 20 minutes.

6. Serve immediately, with the vegetables and accompaniments of your choice. Leftovers make great chicken salad.

METHOD To Roast the Garlic

For the roasted garlic:

2 heads garlic
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
a pinch of kosher salt or sea salt
a pinch of coarse-ground black pepper (1 crack of the pepper mill)

1. Preheat the oven to 450°.

2. Cut across the top of each head of garlic to expose some of the garlic flesh.

3. Place each garlic head cut-side on a piece of tinfoil big enough to easily wrap it, about 3 inches by 3 inches. Sprinkle the garlic with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Wrap the garlic up in the foil, making a Hershey's-kiss shape.

4. Bake on a baking tray on the center rack of the oven until the cloves are soft and golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool the garlic in the fridge or freezer until it's cool to the touch. (The garlic can hold in the fridge for up to 3 days at this stage.)

Copyright © 2008 by Andrew Carmellini and Gwen Hyman. Reprinted from Urban Italian with permission from Bloomsbury.

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The recipes that one of New York’s best young chefs cooks in his own kitchen: a cookbook full of soulful, sophisticated food and delicious stories.

While waiting for construction to finish on his restaurant A Voce, Andrew Carmellini faced an unusual challenge. After a brilliant career in professional kitchens (including a six-year tour as chef de cuisine at Café Boulud), he was faced with the harsh reality of life as a civilian cook: no prep cooks, no saucier, no daily more...