Dateline: July 9, 2021 Rotisserie Chicken Indoors Because of The Rain

I so wanted to get out and grill this chicken....but Mother Nature was not having it.  July has been ridiculous in terms of the amount of rain that we have gotten.  The plants are mostly happy, but I am not of the same mind set.

I had a Cooks Venture chicken from Fresh Direct.  I love these chickens, they are slow grown, no hormones, and they are tasty.  What more could you ask for in a bird?

These chickens tend to be on the smaller side, about 3.5 - 4 pounds.  Perfect for us and with left overs for breakfast or lunch.

I was cooking just for me, as Bill was off doing good deeds up in The Bronx. So dinner was just salt and pepper on the chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, and a salad.

It tasted as good as it looks too!

I have been working on a different cocktail, sort of a hybrid mojito and margarita.

Ingredients

1 tsp sugar

3-4 mint leaves

2 slices of jalapeno pepper, seeded, if you are a weenie

2 rounds of cucumber, peeled if waxed

1 T lemon or lime juice

2 oz tequila

1 T triple sec

Method

1.  Muddle the sugar, pepper, mint, and cuke rounds well in the larger cup of a shaker.

2.  Add lemon or lime juice and muddle/stir until sugar is dissolved.

3.  Add handful of ice cubes, tequila, and triple sec.  Cap and shake vigorously.  Pour into a suitable glass and enjoy!

Dateline: June 10, 2021 ROTO-Q-360 and Rotisserie Chicken

I had a lovely little whole chicken in the fridge and some mushrooms that needed to be cooked.   I pulled out the ROTO-Q-360, and sliced the mushrooms up into thickish slices along with some onions.

But, I wanted chicken that had a sauce, all sticky and spicy on it.  Aha!  I will make a mustard, calabrian pepper, maple syrup glaze and cook it like that.

Glaze Ingredients

2 T prepared mustard, I used a spicy brown

2 T maple syrup, you could use honey or agave

1 T calabrian pepper paste

1/2 T salt

1/2 T pepper

olive oil

Method

1.  Set up grill to hold 400°F.  

2.  Mix everything in a small bowl, taste to see if it has enough salt.

3.  Insert rotisserie rod into chicken.  It helps if the chicken is already trussed.  This will keep the wings and legs close to the body so they don't burn or scrap the onions and mushrooms into the fire.

4.  Attach rod to body of the ROTO-Q-360 and slather the glaze on the upward facing sides.

5  Wind up the key at least 40 - 50 times.  You want the chicken to turn all the time it is on the grill.

6.  Rotate the chicken so you can get the glaze all over it.  If you have any remaining glaze save it to brush on the chicken about 1/2 way through the cooking.

7.  Slice mushrooms sort of thickish as well as the onions.  Place in a bowl and coat with olive oil and salt and pepper.

8.  Line bottom pan with foil.  Dump the mushrooms into the pan and insert under the chicken.  Let the chicken roll a complete turn around the spit to make sure that no mushrooms are in the way and cause the chicken to get stuck.

9.  Grill/Roast for about 45 minutes and open grill top to check on the progress.  Baste with the rest of any left over glaze.  Close lid and let go another 20-30 minutes.  Check with an instant read thermometer that the temp between leg and thigh is at least 165°F and the breast near the wing joint is also about 170-180°.  I personally like the leg/thigh to hit at least 170° to be sure that there is no blood at the joint.

I had a head of broccoli that I put on the grill after the chicken and mushrooms were done.  Along with the salad below it rounded out a lovely June meal.