Spiedini di Pollo (Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken Breast with Rosemary)

Ham, Chicken and Rosemary. Especially with the huge bushes of rosemary I now have out back, this recipe was a no-brainer as soon as I saw it in Cucina Rustica.

I went for the fancy, super-thin sliced Prosciutto I found at the Fox & Obel deli counter. I figured it would be more flavorful than the lower-grade stuff I bought at Jewel. I'm not sure that was the right move.

The chicken was okay, but definitely not seasoned enough. There wasn't enough rosemary (though it smelled great while cooking) nor salt/ham flavor. At very least, I needed to salt the meat a little bit. The thicker-cut Prosciutto may not be as high quality a meat, but it might be better for this purpose.

The bread burnt a bit, too. My step-mother thinks that I may have needed more olive oil. I dismissed that at first, as I definitely brushed it down, but I realized that she may have provided a clue. The parts that burned were the sides with crust. i.e., they couldn't absorb the olive oil as well as the other parts. So, the issue may be that the crust doesn't hold the oil well enough and therefore burns easier, so it might be that the bread cubes simply cannot have any crust on them.

Definitely worth another try with some tweaking.

Rotisserie Chicken - Redux

I did two chickens last night - one with sage and butter for Channing, the other with just rosemary (whole stalks tucked under the skin) for me. Both were stuffed with lemon wedges, yellow onion chunks and more of the herbs.

There's definitely a weight limit on the Weber Genesis rotisserie attachment. I have to check the labels to see how heavy the birds were that I tried to cook last night, but they were definitely too big.

After appearing to be fine for the first few minutes of monitoring, by the time I went to check on them about 15 minutes later, one had fallen completely out of the cage, blocking the whole mechanism. Fortunately, I was able to pull them out and pop them into the oven for regular roasting with very good results. Before then, though, man, the rosemary smelled amazing.

I did learn better how to use the rotisserie device in other ways, though, by using indirect heat (i.e. the middle of the three burners was off) and removing the middle Flavorizer bar, I was able to prevent flare-ups.

Rotisserie Chicken

Someone gave us a rotisserie attachment for the Weber grill for our wedding - I can't find my thank-you list right now, or I'd name-check that person as they deserve. I'm embarassed to admit I just used it for the first time last night. The two factors holding me back before where that I wasn't comfortable yet with cooking whole chickens and I was going to have to run an extension cord from our kitchen out to the deck.

Since we got it, I've done roast chickens several times and our new pad has an electrical outlet next on the deck, next to the grill. So, last night, with the advent of decent weather in our fair city, it was time to try it out.

I wanted to get the basic technique down this time around, so rather than fancy recipes, I did a simple roast chicken preparation, minus the butter under the skin. I rinsed, dried and seasoned the birds, using only kosher salt and pepper. I also stuffed the cavities with 2 cloves of crushed garlic and strips of yellow onion. Though the cage of the basket is pretty tight and secure, I did need to truss the cavity, which I did using the "skin truss" (poking holes in the skin and tucking the legs into those, rather than using twine.

The recipe on the Weber site recommended 1-1.25 hours at Indirect High, possibly adjusting to Indirect Medium if the skin was browning too quickly.

There was a LOT of flame at the start, which cause a little bit of (though not too much char). Afterwards, I found that one of the "Flavorizer" bars (A-shaped bars that site between the grill surface and the flames in a Weber) was turned over. Instead of letting grease run down the sides of the "A," it was getting trapped in the trough of the "V." So, I think this may have caused the flame eruptions. I think that the rotation of the basket may have knocked it over (a stray wing, perhaps), but as I've been cleaning and reassembling it lately, it's entirely possible that I hadn't put that bar back in place.

The results were pretty good. Mine was a little bit dry, but not bad at all. A piece that fell off of Channing's was unbelievably tender, moist and tasty. I think they were a bit over-cooked, so I'll go with Indirect Medium the next time. Also, I think I'll do the butter under the skin prep on Channing's to crisp it up a bit.