The Allure of Rotisserie Chicken

I am sure at one point or another you have walked into your local grocery store and have gotten hit by the inticing smell of grilling rotisserie chickens. Enough is enough. I got my own home rotisserie unit (a small George Foreman unit) and have developed several nice dry rubs to prepare rotisserie chickens. And it works beautifully.

If you can, cover the chicken with the dry rub the day before, although an hour is very effective. No matter what, a small (3.5-4 lb.) chicken is ready in an hour or so, and your kitchen will smell out-of-this world!

Rotisserie Chicken
1 3-4 lb whole chicken

Dry rub mix:
1 rounded Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 Tbsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp chili powder
½ tsp Cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp coarse salt
2 tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp Allspice

Mix the dry rub together in a very large bowl. Rinse and dry the chicken, and truss with string tightly so the bird does not flop while turning in the rotisserie. Toss the chicken generously with the rub, making sure that rub mix gets into all the nooks and crannies of the whole bird. Let it stand at least one hour – or overnight – as much as you can. Skewer chicken onto rack of your rotisserie device and rotisserie for about 1-1½ hrs. depending on the size. Let sit for 15 minutes before carving to let juices redistribute.

This roasted acorn squash goes very well with broiled or rotisserie chicken. The skin is so tender you can eat it as well.

Roasted Acorn Squash
1 whole acorn squash
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp dried crushed rosemary
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Preheat oven to 450F. Slice acorn squash in half and scoop out and discard the seeds. Slice into serving-sized chunks. Turn into a large bowl and mix with oil, rosemary, salt and sugar. Tip into jelly-roll pan. Roast for about 20 minutes, until brown and bubbling.