Smoke-Roasted Chicken
I make this chicken on a Traeger BBQ, which uses pellets to smoke, rather than grill, the food. It is essentially a smoky oven. The result is chicken that doesn’t get dry, and skin that crisps and puffs out a bit from the dry heat. If you don’t have such a device, use your oven. The smoked paprika gives off a nice, oaky flavor, anyway.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp pepper or to taste
- 1 small lemon, cut in half.
- 5 cloves garlic, mashed
- 3 fresh or dried bay leaves
For the oven:
- ½ cup water or white wine For the oven:
- 2 potatoes, washed and sliced thin
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
Instructions
- Rinse and dry the chicken. Preheat your Traeger or oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix the oil, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic and the juice of half a lemon into a paste. Rub this inside the chicken, and outside. Your chicken should develop a nice titian glow. Any excess can go into the cavity, along with the other half of lemon and the bay leaves.
- In your Traeger place the chicken breast-side down directly on the grates. Cover and cook about 35 minutes. Turn and finish cooking until crisp, about 10 more minutes.
- In an oven, place the chicken in a small roasting pan, breast-side down. Add those chopped cauliflower leaves, more garlic, and sliced onions and potatoes to the bottom if you wish, along with a bit of olive oil and some water or white wine. Roast 40 minutes until brown. Turn and finish roasting until brown, about 15 minutes.
- In all cases, a meat thermometer inserted into the thigh joint should register 165 degrees.
- Remove the chicken, let rest a few minutes. Carve and serve with puree and greens.
Notes
Rob Eshman is national editor of the Forward. You can follow his food @foodaism.
This article was originally published on the Forward.
