Quick Spice Rub for Chicken

It was just that kind of a day here!  I barbecued a whole chicken on a “beer can” thing I picked up on clearance somewhere. Just makes it easier to balance the chicken. I used a can of Mountain Dew though, as I had no cans of beer.  Stuck some rosemary, thyme, a crushed garlic clove and some red pepper flakes in the can after emptying out half the soda into a glass.Cooked about an hour and a half over indirect heat, trying to keep the temperature at about 350. I kept having to relight one burner that was under the chicken, let the grill heat up, then turn that one burner off again.  The indirect heat is key to moist chicken on the grill I think.  This was fantastic. I did a quick rub I saw in Weber’s Real Grilling: Over 200 Original Recipes, which I actually bought from Lowe’s when I bought this gas grill.

If you live anywhere where rosemary will survive, you should grow it and never buy it at the grocery store again!  The fresh has such a great taste. Where I live (San Francisco bay area) it is a hearty perennial.  I trim the bush with shears a couple of times a year and throw away armfuls of it.  My favorite pruning job as it smells so good!  But whenever I need rosemary, I just go snip some off the bush.

The potato salad recipe I’ll share tomorrow if I get a chance, along with a picture. I vary the ingredients and quantities a bit but the key is something I picked up from my grandmother: use half mayonnaise and half sour cream.  She called it “Nippy Potato Salad” but I use lots more crunchy things (celery, pickles) than she did and usually leave out the hard boiled eggs.

The carrot salad is what I got from Jamie Oliver, posted here. I left the mandarin oranges out this time, opting for simple.  Roughly a 3:1 ratio of olive oil to lemon juice, like a vinaigrette.