Slow-roasted Rotisserie-style Chicken

January 3, 2016

A roast chicken can be satisfying and delicious, but it can be deceptively difficult to make. I've been experimenting with trying to make the perfect roast chicken (I'm getting there, I think), and have been using different techniques to see how they turn out. One of the more successful ones is a "faux-tisserie" chicken, which attempts to develop the same fall-off-the bone texture that you get from your favorite rotisserie-cooked bird.

The general technique comes from Bon Appetit magazine, which advocates cooking the chicken low and slow for hours. I decided to flavor it like they do at Gira Polli in Mill Valley, whose wood-fired rotisserie chickens I think are some of the best in Marin. While this is not a whip-it-up-after-you-get-home-from-work recipe, it's really pretty easy. You just need to be around for the 3 hours it takes to cook it.

Like a store-bought rotisserie chicken, you can shred up the leftovers to use in other recipes throughout the week. Definitely try to use a really good-quality chicken like one of the free-range ones from a local farm or supplier like Mary's. You'll definitely taste the difference! I roasted some potatoes in the pan alongside the chicken and they were really good, too.

Ingredients

for the chicken

1 roasting chicken, about 3–5 pounds
One orange, quartered
One lemon, quartered
One onion, peeled and quarted
Two cloves garlic, unpeeled
Two sprigs fresh rosemary
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

for the potatoes

2 pounds Yukon gold or red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat your oven to 300ºF. Liberally season the chicken inside and out with kosher salt and pepper. Don't be afraid to season it aggressively! Stuff the chicken cavity with the lemon, orange, garlic, half a sprig of rosemary, and onion. (It might not all fit, depending on the size of your chicken.) Finely chop rosemary leaves, reserving 1 teaspoon for the potatoes. Fold wing tips underneath the body and tie chicken's legs together with cotton kitchen twine.

Place the chicken on a large rimmed baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chopped rosemary. In a medium mixing bowl, combine potatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil, reserved rosemary, and salt and pepper to taste.