Two-way Chicken Breasts

Ingredients

Serves 2

  • 1 large boneless chicken breast, skin on
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 lb. fresh green beans
  • 1/2 lb. round tiny yellow potatoes
  • Olive oil
  • Butter

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375℉.

Skin the chicken firmly but carefully and keep the skin as one wide piece. Cut as much fat from the breast as possible and set in a medium-sized oven-safe dish. Using a sharp knife, remove as much fat as possible from under the chiecken skin but pay a particular attention to not make any hole in the skin. Lay the whole skin piece onto a sheet of baking paper, outside up. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour some water onto the chicken breast and leave a small oven-safe container (e.g. a ramequin) by the side of the chicken. Put into oven and bake for 25 minutes. Pour again a bit of water onto the breast halfway-through.

Cut the potatoes in half. In a frying pan, bring 1 tbsp of olive oil to a high heat and set the potatoes in the pan, facing down. Salt and let brown under high heat for three minutes. Lower the heat, cool down by pouring a third of a glass of water and cover to let the potatoes cook with the water.

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Snap the tips of the beans and cook them in water for 5 minutes. Mince the garlic cloves. In a small saucepan, bring 1 tsp of butter to melt on medium heat and cook the garlic in it for 3 minutes. Mix the beans and the garlic in the pan with the potatoes, sauté under medium heat for 5 minutes.

Fill a large saucepan with two quarts of water. In a large frying pan, bring the butter to a melt under high heat. Flip the chicken skin and the paper into the pan and immediately put the saucepan to rest on top of it, inside of the frying pan. The weight of the water is meant to force the chicken skin to fry flat. Leave the fire on for three minutes then lift the paper slightly to check the color of the skin. Module the heat and the cooking time under the skin is brown and crispy.

Remove the breast from the oven, pat dry with a paper towel, cut in half and set each half into a plate. Cut the skin piece in half and set atop the breast. Serve the potatoes and beans on the side, sprinkle with fleur de sel.