This is NOT your average chicken! Garlicky chicken quarters pan fried to a crispy perfection and served with perfect pan roasted potatoes. It’s one of my favorite chicken dishes from my childhood. Plus learn how to fry up the best chicken with minimal oil splatters!
The aroma of this chicken cooking is forever stamped in my memory. My mother often made this garlicky chicken — simple, full of garlic, with skin so crisp it begged to be bitten. It’s a dish rooted more in Georgian tradition than Ukrainian, Moldovan, or Russian, but Georgian influence on our regional cuisine meant we adopted it and made it our own.
You’ll see similar preparations on menus at Russian restaurants, but none I’ve tried compares to my mother’s version. She made the best tsiplyata v tabaka — literally “chickens in tobacco,” a name that likely refers to the deep browning and crisp texture.
The Technique
My mother would crush many cloves of fresh garlic into a paste with salt and lots of black pepper, rubbing it all over the chicken quarters — getting it into every nook and, importantly, under the skin. When that garlic caramelizes and melts into the meat, it becomes heavenly.
Her brilliant twist was cooking the chicken under a heavy press. She used a large jar filled with water, placed a plate on top of the chicken, then set the jar on the plate — the same concept as brick chicken. I used a heavy whiskey bottle when I didn’t have a jar; cast iron, a brick, or any heavy object works well.
This pressed technique is effective for three reasons:
- It keeps the chicken close to the pan so it cooks faster.
- It flattens the pieces so they crisp evenly on all sides.
- It reduces oil splatter by creating a barrier over the chicken.
She turned the chicken periodically to brown every side perfectly. I’d wait with a plate in hand to grab the first piece, pairing it with classic Russian salad and dark rye bread. I’d burn my tongue repeatedly because it was too good to wait.
One cold night in Chicago, craving comfort and nostalgia, I added baby Yukon Gold potatoes to the pan so everything cooked in one pot. The result was warm, garlicky, and satisfying — garlic chicken and perfectly roasted potatoes in a single pan.
One Pot Garlic Chicken and Potatoes…Цыпленок B табака
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5 from 1 review
- Author: Mila Furman
Description
This is NOT your average chicken. Garlic chicken and potatoes cook together in one pan to crispy, caramelized perfection, leaving you with minimal cleanup and maximum flavor.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2–3 pounds chicken quarters
- 10–12 garlic cloves
- 2 tsp kosher or sea salt
- 1.5 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 4 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp extra for the garlic paste
- 2 pounds baby Yukon Gold potatoes, halved
- a heavy object to use as weight (cast iron, jar, or brick)
- a round plate to cover the chicken and hold the weight
- parsley for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Crush the garlic and combine it with salt, black pepper, and 1 tsp olive oil in a blender or food processor. Process to a smooth paste, adding a little more oil if needed.
- Pat the chicken dry. Rub the garlic paste all over each quarter, working some under the skin and into every crevice.
- Toss the halved potatoes with 1 tbsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
- Heat a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat and add the remaining olive oil. Arrange the chicken in the pan skin-side down, then tuck the potatoes around the pieces.
- Cover the chicken with a plate and place the weight on top. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes.
- Carefully remove the weight and plate using a towel, flip the chicken and potatoes, then return the plate and weight. Cook another 5 minutes.
- Repeat this press-and-flip method two more times, keeping the heat at medium so the chicken browns without burning.
- The chicken is done when the juices run clear and the internal temperature reaches a safe level for poultry. If needed, finish cooking in a 400°F oven until done.
Notes
1. Baby Yukon Golds are tender and sweet; if using regular Yukon Gold potatoes, quarter them so they cook faster.
2. If potatoes need more time after the chicken is done, remove the chicken, tent it with foil to keep warm, and continue cooking the potatoes until fork-tender.
3. After browning the chicken in the pan for about 10 minutes, you can transfer it to a 400°F oven to finish cooking, though the traditional pressed technique is stovetop-based and closely resembles brick chicken.
- Category: Chicken
- Cuisine: Russian
