Roasted Rotisserie Chicken

I call this chicken roasted rotisserie chicken because, while it is technically roasted chicken, it's soooo tender and juicy that it tastes like a rotisserie chicken!  You will LOVE this chicken!  I promise!  And if you don't, I will lovingly come and eat yours for you!

And a little budget saving tip...Smart & Final (in the San Diego area...please check your local ads if outside SD) has whole Foster Farms chicken on sale for $0.79 lb!!!!  This is a great deal, so head over and get one...or take the ad (you can print it online too) to your super Walmart and have them price match!

Now, on to the roasted chicken!  This is a simple recipe, way too easy for something that tastes so good!  However, it's not a quick meal.  You'll want to cook this when you have a lot of house cleaning to do.  When you are at home but can't stand over the stove to fix dinner.  It takes about 2-2 1/2 hrs to cook but only about 20 minutes to prep!

Roasted Rotisserrie Chicken

1 whole chicken (mine was about 5lbs)

Chicken spice rub

1 whole onion, quartered

Chicken Spice Rub

 

Salt

Pepper

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Paprika

Creole seasoning

Thyme

Take equal parts of all spices and mix.  I use 1 tbsp of each.  Once you try this though you may decide to make a large batch and store in the spice cabinet.  In that case, use 1/2 cup of each and mix.

Here are my spices.  I use fresh thyme because I grow it in my herb garden, but feel free to use dried thyme.  If using fresh, use a little less than you would dry (if you are using 1 tbsp of each, go w/ 1/2 tbsp of fresh thyme or 1 tbsp dried).

Take out your whole chicken and clean him up, removing the innards.  My husband likes chicken necks so I keep that but toss the rest.  Rinse well an then pay dry.

Take your little birdie and stick your finger under the skin to loosen it from the meat.  Be careful to not tear the skin...you need the skin on to help keep the moisture in.  Add some of the spice rub under the skin and rub around until the meat under the skin is covered.

Do the same to the back of the chicken (I put the rub everywhere...breasts, thighs, legs, back...not the wings because they are so tiny).  Add a few spoonfuls inside the cavity of the bird too.  ***this is where you take your quartered onion and stuff it inside the chicken.  I completely forgot and had to go back and add it later!  Don't forget!!! The onion helps the chicken to stay super juicy!***

After your chicken is all rubbed down under the skin and the onion is stuffed inside, you want to cross it's legs.  This helps the onion to stay inside (you could tie it with kitchen twine but I dot have that).  Just take a knife and poke a hole in the flappy skin at the cavity opening.  Make sure it isn't right on the edge as the hole will tear a bit and you don't want it to rip in half.

Take the leg opposite of the hole (if hole is on right side, take left leg and vice versa) and poke it into the hole.  

Do the same thing on the other side. Poke a hole and insert leg.  The legs should be crossed and holding the onion in!  Who needs kitchen twine?!

Now rub the spice mix all over the outside.  I did the outside rub before crossing the legs but whichever works for you.  

Don't forget to rub the backside too!

Stick it in the oven, BREAST SIDE DOWN, at 275F for 2 hrs (for a 5 1/2lb chicken...adjust more or less time for larger/smaller chicken).  After 2 hrs, flip the chicken BREAST SIDE UP for 30 min at 300F to brown the skin and finish cooking. I am using my toaster oven but feel free to use the regular oven. 

The way I test my chicken for fineness is by pulling gently on the thigh...if it tears off easily (like fall off easy) it's done.  For a more technical way, stick a meat thermometer in the upper thigh and have it read 160F.

See how beautiful it is?!  And it's super juicy and falls off the bone!  The flavor is in every bite all the way through the chicken!  This is my favorite way to cook chicken and will surely become one of yours!  Enjoy!

Happily Homemade

Sandra

Homemade Pitas & Tzatziki Sauce

Yesterday I had to go shopping for a Christmas gift on the side of town I rarely go to...not because anything is wrong with that side of town, it's actually quite nice...I just never get over there.  Until yesterday.  And now, I know why. 

There is a great Greek fast food joint over there.  God spares me from having to go over there so I don't eat there every day!  They have the BEST gyros, pitas, and tzatziki sauce!  The gyros are so big you could get about 3 regular sized ones out of the one gigantic gyro they give you!  It's Divine!!!  It's also a bit pricey and I had the kiddos with me (yes, like any other good mama, I occasionally splurge if my kids aren't with me...it's too expensive if they are! haha Bad mama, I know!).

So, I came home and made my own pitas and tzatziki sauce.  I don't know how to make the gyro meat...yet.  Someday.  Until then, I make pitas, tzatziki sauce, and then super thin turkey burger patties...pretty tasty, I think.

 

The tzatziki (pronounced, "zat-ZEE-kee") sauce is super easy to make.  The pitas are easy, but like any type of bread, a bit time consuming...thankfully, it's mostly waiting time though, so go ahead and give it a try.  My suggestion...make at least 2 batches of the pita dough.  I made one batch last night, about 12 pitas, and find that we have 1 left this morning :-/...Since we still have sauce left over, I'll be making more pitas today!

Tzatziki Sauce (Greek Cucumber Yogurt Sauce)

1 cup plain greek yogurt ( I make my own crockpot Greek yogurt HERE)
1 cucumber, seeded, shredded, and drained
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
lemon juice
1tbsp chopped fresh mint (you can use fresh dill also, but I grow fresh mint, so that's what I use)

Gather up your ingredients.  I grow herbs, and mint is one of them.  I LOVE mint!  I wish my plant was bigger, but for some reason, mint and I aren't the best of friends...this plant has lasted the longest simply because I left it in a pot.  When I transplant it, it dies.  Always.  Even though I will see "wild" growing mint everywhere and they are the size of small trees.  Sad.  So, I take what I can get.  Someday, I will figure out the trick to huge mint plants. 

 

 

Take your cucumber and using a spoon, scoop out the seeds.  Cukes have a lot of water, and if you leave the seeds in, it will make your sauce too soupy.  Once you de-seed your cucumbers, use a cheese grater and grate the cuke.  You could use a food processor, which I think I will do next time as the grater was a bit of a pain.  Your goal is to make sure the cucumber is in very fine pieces, not big chunks.

 

 

Like I mentioned, cucumbers have lots of water in them naturally (see the first pic...that's after I grated the cucumber).  You can do a couple different things to get the excess water out...place some coffee filters in a strainer and let the cucumbers drain for a while until the water is drained out.  Or, if way too impatient for that...squish as much water out with your hands and then roll in lots of paper towels.  Press until the cucumbers are dry and most of the water is out.

 

Chop your mint (or put in the food processor...you want the mint to be very fine also).  Add the cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, mint, yogurt and a pinch of salt and pepper and stir until everything is incorporated.  I like to taste the cucumber in my tzatziki.  If you like yours to be more yogurt-y, just add more yogurt (the restaurants typically make theirs with a lot more yogurt...adjust to your taste preference).

 

Let the sauce sit, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes for the flavors to melt together!  Then eat with pitas!  Enjoy!

 

 

Homemade Pita Bread

1 cup hot water (I just use hot tap water)

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 1/2 cups flour (plus extra if kneading by hand)

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

 



Add the yeast to the hot water in the bowl of your stand mixer (or if you don't have a stand mixer, the bowl you will mix your dough in).  And just a little product promo...if you don't have a stand mixer, a Kitchen Aid is the BEST!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE mine and honestly rarely mix anything by hand these days!  They are a bit pricey, but if you do a lot of stuff in the kitchen, I would urge you to consider one.  Plus Christmas is coming up...let your hubs know what you REALLY want!  Ok, back to our regularly scheduled recipe... Let the yeast sit for about 5 minutes or until it starts to get foamy.

 

Add the flour, salt, and olive oil.  Use the dough hook and mix until the dough is all incorporated and doesn't stick to the sides.  I actually had to add about a 1/2 tbsp of water to get the dough to incorporate...you may not, that's ok.  Mix the dough in the mixer for about 8 minutes or until the dough is a smooth ball.  If doing all of this by hand, first, I'm sorry...nah, just kidding.  Use a wooden spoon to mix the flour and ingredients together.  Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes, adding flour as needed, until the dough is very smooth and soft.

 

See how smooth and pretty the dough is?!  Once it's kneaded, take it out of the bowl and shape into a smooth ball.  Spray your bowl with cooking spray (or wipe with olive oil) and roll the dough until all sides are covered.  Leave the dough in the bowl, cover and let rise for about an hour, or until doubled in size.  You can also use the finger poke test. 

The Finger Poke test:  Once the dough has risen (usually double in size), gently poke your finger into the dough and watch...if the dough rises back and your hole disappears, it is NOT ready.  If the hole stays, like in my picture, the dough IS ready.  Easy peasy.

 

When you dough has risen, gently punch the dough down.  Turn out onto a lightly floured counter and cut the dough into 8-12 pieces (I started with 8 pieces, but they were too big).  Toss the ones you aren't using back into the bowl and cover while you work with one, so they don't dry out.

 

Flatten each ball into a disk shape with your hand.  Then get out the rolling pin and roll out into a circle (good luck...I have a hard time making perfect circles too!).  You want the dough to be about a 1/4" thick...not too thin or it will end up being more like a flour tortilla (still yummy, but not exactly what we are trying to achieve).

 

Before you start rolling out the pitas, get a flat skillet/griddle and set over medium heat.  You wan the skillet to be hot.  Once the pita is rolled out, toss onto the skillet.  You'll start to see bubbles appear all over the pita.  Let the pita fill with bubbles.  Flip the pita and watch it rise!  I have to admit, it's pretty cool when you see it puff up like that, but honestly, most of mine puff up in parts.  Rarely does the whole thing puff up like the perfect pita.  It's ok if yours are like mine.  Just make sure both sides are cooked (they won't look like dough...it only takes about 30 secs-1min-ish per side).  You will still be able to cut them open and stuff if that's what you like to do.

 

 

As you make the pitas, wrap the finished ones in a towel or paper towels to keep warm.  They are best eaten fresh, of course, but are definitely just as yummy if warmed up the same way (in the skillet) the next day.  I store mine in a freezer bag in the fridge.

 

Make some turkey burgers (ground turkey, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, and Cajun seasoning...made into a patty and flattened very thin and cooked like a hamburger), stuff into a pita with some tzatziki sauce and devour!  Or just tear off bites of pita and dip into the sauce!  Either way, it's delicious!  Enjoy!

 

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alphabet Soup

Today we are having some homemade alphabet soup.  As most of you who've been reading my blog know, I'm not exactly the most healthy, all-natural cook in town.  To that I say, wait til January...you'll have enough blog posts about lettuce, you'll be ready to turn into a rabbit.  Until then, forgive my daily overdoses of sugar and fat. 

Anyway, back to the ABC soup...while I don't always cook the healthiest food, there are some things I don't buy due to their unhealthy qualities.  One of those is canned soup.  First of all, it's gross.  I mean really, does anyone REALLY like the canned chicken noodle soup?  I didn't ask if anyone ate it, but do they LIKE it?  It's like eating chicken flavored salt, and what are those perfectly cut teeny tiny cubes in there???  I don't really know.

Ever eaten the alphabet soup, or gotten it for the kiddos?  The alphabets are fun, but the soup itself is soooo high in sodium and who knows what else.  Let's stop buying the canned stuff and make it homemade.  It will only take about 15-20 minutes to get a healthier version of the fun alphabets in front of your kids.  You can make it if you are short on time and feel good that you aren't serving something canned!  It's a win win!

Homemade Alphabet Soup

1 bag of ABC pasta (if it's not in the regular pasta section at your store, look in the Mexican food isle)
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 tbsp chopped onion
1 tbsp bacon lard (or oil or shortening...your choice)
Knorr chicken base
Water

Here is the alphabet pasta I used.  There are different brands, all just as good. 

 

Get a pot on the stove with med heat.  Add about a tbsp of whatever shortening/oil/lard you are using.  Then chop some onion and add it to the hot lard/oil/shortening.  Saute until the onion looks clear or slightly browned.  This could be an optional step if you don't like onion...it's a small amount for flavor.

 

 

Now add the pasta to the onion/oil mixture and toast.  You will start to see the pasta looking a bit toasted...turn down the heat to low and don't burn it! :) 

 

Add the can of tomato sauce and stir.  Then get out our trusty Knorr chicken base and add about 1 tbsp and mix.  Let this cook until you end up with a pasta like consistency (this will take away the canned tomato sauce taste).  Sprinkle in some black pepper while you're at it.

 

Add 4 cans worth of water and stir well.  I use the tomato sauce can to measure (the cans are usually 8oz, which equals 1 cup, so technically 4 cups of water...I just try to do as few dishes as possible!).  Cook on low for about 10-15 min or until the pasta is cooked.

 

See all the fun letters!  Homemade ABC soup that the kids will love!

 

We like to serve ours with some mozzarella on top, and if we have any, cooked bacon crumbled on the bottom.  Make some grilled cheese and you have a yummy, quick and easy lunch!

Enjoy!

 

 

Happily Homemade

Sandra