Slow Grilled Whole Chicken

Two years ago, when I was hosting my daughter’s wedding and faced the prospect of feeding a large crowd of friends and relatives, I broke down and bought a gas grill. My preferred fuel for cooking is hardwood, but that takes hours. Next is lump charcoal. That doesn’t take hours but like wood rain puts damper on things. I got tired of standing around with heavy duty foil and umbrellas, fashioning a splatter guard for a jerry-rigged grill, while also having a temper tantrum. It always pays to get mad at weather in my experience, it only thunders backs. So with a limited budget and a lot5 of skepticism, indeed, passive aggressiveness, I went to the local big chain distributer of fossil fuel burning grills and selected the one recommended by Consumer Reports. Got it home and the screws were over-torqued. Returned it, got another, and…some screws were over-torqued. Fortunately they were on the woefully inadequate side burner I never intended to use so rather than return another I kept the defective one. The result? It sucks. No heat at all. Steaks and burgers are acceptable but nothing like charcoal or wood. But we do not have ruined barbecues anymore. This thing has a lid and can be kept on the porch. And it does do one thing well: slow roast. In fact, other than a smouldering piece of hardwood, it does a favorite recipe better than charcoal, because the woefully inadequate heat can be controlled.

The recipe? I got it initially from one of Marcella Hazan’s great books. It works best with smallish birds (I’ve done 4-1/2 pounders, but it’s not as good). So when Autumn Harvest had  chickens only a little over 3 lbs, I was set. I bought two, then from Stick and Stone Farm I bought a head of escarole and fresh salad greens. This is the boon of a mild winter and summer temperatures in March. (I also cut three stalks of asparagus yesterday!) I had some left over tomato sauce, so dinner on Sunday was grilled chicken, whole wheat spaghetti with tomato sauce and a salad.

Split a 3-3 1/2 pound chicken down the back and spread open. Then using a heavy iron frying pan literally smash the chicken until it flat. In a mortar and pestle coarsely grind two T of black peppercorns and 2 T of whole coriander seeds. Put chicken in a shallow glass dish and squeeze two lemons over it, rubbing the juice into the skin and flesh. Rubbb  2T of smashed and chopped garlic. Then sprinkle rock salt to taste on both sides. Rub the coriander black pepper mix into both sides, in all the nooks and crannies (don’t neglect any part of the bird, pound more if need be). Let it marinade in the rub for at least 4 hours. Then, fifteen minutes before cooking time heat the grill on high, with the lid down. After fifteen minutes is up clean the grill and lower the heat on the middle two burners to low, keep the outer two on high. Lay the chicken skin side up over the coolest part of the grill and lower the lid. Total cooking time will be about 45 minutes. Turn the bird every ten minutes or so and rotate it around to cook evenly. When it is golden and crispy on the outside (with that intoxicating, spicy perfume of lemons, black pepper, garlic and coriander infused in the crunchy skin) remove it to a chopping board and let it rest for 5 minutes. Toss the salad and the pasta. Chop the chicken into serving pieces with a cleaver and serve with a great  rose from France or Italy if it’s a warm day, a light red wine or strong white, like Riesling, if it’s a cold a crappy day.