Dry Rub Oven-Barbecued Chicken

Top of the morning to you! My it seems like a long time since my last update on the blog. I suppose it is to be expected in the heat of the summer when it is so hot that the only cooking adventures lately have been fresh sweet corn and firing up the grill for a quick meal. Oh...and this little gem of a recipe. Because when you live in an area without a solid BBQ option...well...improvising is a must. And you must try this recipe. Even if you do have a solid BBQ option where you live. You can thank me later.

First, I'll try to catch you up with a CSA box from a few weeks ago and we'll take things slow...capiche?

CSA WEEK SIX: the haul

Carrots

Zucchini

Summer Squash

Tomatoes

Cabbage

Kohlrabi

Beets

Green Pepper

Jalapeno

Malabar Spinach

Red Russian Kale

Broccoli

Onions

Rosemary

Oregano

Step One: Gather the ingredients.

Step Two: Brine the chicken for 1-4 hours. Meanwhile, make the dry rub. You'll likely have more than you need, so just keep the extra for another time.

Step Three: Remove the chicken from the brine and pat dry. Lay out four sheets of foil (enough for two separate packs to completely encase chicken), and cover chicken pieces in dry rub. Be generous!

Step Four: Bake for 1 hour on two separate baking sheets at 300 degrees. After 1 hour, rotate the baking sheets and bake for another 30-60 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

Step Five: Remove the chicken from the oven, and heat broiler. 

Step Six: Pour the juices from the chicken packets into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, add a generous squeeze of honey, and reduce down 8-12 minutes, or until syrupy. Add a tsp of apple cider vinegar to finish.

Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

DRY RUB OVEN-BARBECUED CHICKEN | Yield: 6-8 servings | Total Time: 3-7 hours (depending how long you brine the chicken)

INGREDIENTS:

BRINE:

4 C water

1/3 C Kosher salt

1/3 C white or brown sugar

1/3 C white vinegar

DRY RUB:

6 Tbsp packed dark brown sugar

4 Tbsp paprika

3 Tbsp chili powder

Up to 1 Tbsp ground red pepper (if you like it hot) or to taste (I used about 1 1/2 tsp)

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbsp Kosher salt

Up to 1 Tbsp coarsely ground black pepper

CHICKEN:

5 1/2 to 6 lbs mixed bone-in skin-on chicken parts (about 2 small chickens, each in 8 parts)

SAUCE:

A generous squeeze of honey

1 tsp cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

BRINE THE CHICKEN:

In a large container, mix water, salt, sugar and vinegar. Add chicken parts and cover with a lid or plastic wrap in the fridge, for at least 1 hour and up to 6 hours.

MAKE THE RUB:

Mix all of the seasonings together and set aside.

PREPARE THE CHICKEN:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Remove chicken parts from brine and pat dry. Place pieces of chicken on two very large pieces of foil, large enough to fold over chicken and form packets. Pat chicken pieces generously on all sides with rub; do not be shy, you want this chicken completely doused. Turn the chicken pieces so the metier sides are down, and tightly fold the foil around them to make two large packets.

Place two cooling racks (which will act as baking racks) on two baking sheets (one on each). NOTE: if you don't have oven-safe cooling racks, fo-getta about this step! Your chicken will still turn out fabulously! Place a chicken packet on each, and put one sheet on an upper oven rack and the other on a lower. Bake chicken for one hour, then rotate baking sheets. Bake for another 30-60 minutes, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of each chicken reads 160 degrees. (Chicken is done at 160.)

*NOTE: You could cook the chicken at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours, or even try it in the slow-cooker on LOW for 5-7 hours if you're feeling adventurous!

FINISH THE CHICKEN:

Remove chicken from oven. Heat broiler. Carefully open each packet of chicken and pour accumulated juices into a saucepan (to make the BBQ sauce - in the next step). PLEASE be careful when pouring these juices. Those foil packets are going to be super hot, and the juices could potentially go everywhere. Consider yourself warned! Arrange the chicken pieces on the open foil packets and run each try under the broiler until lightly crisped at edges and cooked through. Place on serving platter.

MAKE A SAUCE FROM THE JUICES:

While chicken is broiling, boil accumulated juices in the saucepan over high heat for 8-12 minutes, or until it makes a syrupy thick sauce that coats a spoon. Add a squeeze of honey while it reduces, and once syrupy, add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. Serve with chicken.