Chicken so good, you will grill it in the rain...

As of late, my evenings have been so busy, I have had no time to cook . Many people would rather step out into oncoming traffic than think about coming home and having to cook after a long day of work . I am the OPPOSITE. It's how I wind down. After I take the dog out, check the mail and remove all bills from site, and put on my house shoes, (which, by the way, my roommate says "house shoes" is a southern term...I had no idea) then nothing melts away the day like pouring a glass of wine and turning on the stove. Needless to say, I just don't feel complete on these crazy evenings when this doesn't happen. My fix? I have begun reserving a little time on Sunday afternoons to do most of my week's cooking. My favorite thing to prepare for the week lately is a grilled, whole chicken. With spring showing it's face the past several weeks, the grill has been calling my name. That is not the case today.  It is a dreary, cold, weather that screams stay in your pajamas and don't think of going outside, kind of day. HOWEVER...I found a chicken recipe from Ina Garten, that is so delicious and fragrant, rain, sleet, snow, or hail won't keep me from making it. I guess I could roast it in the oven, but there is something about that smokey grilled char that makes chicken roasted in the oven seem like going out in that little black dress, wearing athletic shoes. Functional, but ruins the mood.

This recipe was adapted from Ina's Butterflied Chicken:


Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 roasting chicken (2 1/2 to 3 pounds), butterflied, and divided into halves

(the marinating ingredients here were meant for two chickens, but it tastes so good, I squeeze it all onto one chicken.  Feel free to cut it in half, though.)


Directions

Mix the chopped rosemary, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper together in a small bowl to make a paste.

Place the halves on a sheet pan, skin side up, and loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers. Place 1/2 of the paste under the skin of each half. Rub any remaining paste on the outside and underside of the chickens.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat a grill with coals. Spread the coals out in 1 dense layer and brush the grill with oil. Place the chickens, skin side down, on the grill and cook for 15-20 minutes. Flip and cook for another 15-20 minutes or until completely cooked through.  

By this point, it smells so good, you won't even know it's raining.