I was reading one of my favorite food books, Jeffrey Steingarten's brilliant "It Must Have Been Something I Ate", a hilarious and information filled collection of his essays from his days as Vogue Magazine's food columnist that if you haven't read, you must! In one essay he wrote about his obsessive search for the perfect roast chicken. He posited that nothing beats rotisserie roasted bird, and then mentioned that he had purchased the Weber rotisserie extension. Weber rotisserie extension?? I had no idea there was such a thing. I of course had to have one, and it was promptly delivered via my friendly UPS driver. Two nights ago I gave it a test spin, as it were, and....oh-my-fucking-god...it's like I had never roasted a chicken before! This wasn't my old standby bird. This was something different. Chicken from another planet where all is good and delicious. Insanely, perfectly crisp and browned skin. Juicy breast and thigh meat that was out of this world. Succulent doesn't begin to describe it. I can hardly wait to conduct further experiments on other pieces of animal to see what edible wonders can be coaxed from this new life enhancement tool. If you have a 22" Weber and you're not cooking with this, all I can say is you are living a life half lived. Take it from someone who's kicking himself for going so long without!
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Weber Rotisserie Chicken
Time- about 90 minutes
Prepare the grill by filling the starter chimney to almost overflowing with briquettes (I'm a Kingsford guy). Lots of heat is the key here.
Ingredients
1 Free Range Chicken 5-6#
1 lemon
Sprigs of rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram, tarragon in any combination
Olive Oil
Salt
Fresh Ground Pepper
1-Rinse chicken inside and out and pat dry.
2-Mix together 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper and rub inside of chicken.
3-Stuff fresh herbs inside of chicken along with 1/2 lemon. Tie legs together with kitchen twine.
4-Drizzle olive oil lightly over outside of chicken and salt and pepper all over (breast side and back side).
5-Bank coals to the sides of the charcoal rack on grill. Set a foil pan in between coals to catch chicken drippings.
6-Thread chicken onto rotisserie spit and connect to motor, turn on, cover, open top and bottom vents all the way and walk away. Check back in 30 minutes (chicken won't be done, but you can't help yourself). After about an hour or so, check bird. It is done when you wiggle the leg and it is very loose and moves easily. Skin should be very crisp and browned.
7-When done, bring chicken inside, let rest for 10 minutes, then carve away and prepare for lavish praise from your guests.
