Hot days of late, too hot to roast a fricken chicken.  Not that many gluten free rotisserie chickens around here that I know of, although I here Wegmans has them.  What to do if we crave roast chicken and don’t want to heat the house too?  It’s Super Slow Cooker to the rescue!  So easy too, make a dry rub of spices, sprinkle all over the bird and stick some under the skin.  Plop it in the pot and let er rip for 4 plus hours!  How did it turn out? Great! Mildly spicy, flavorful, moist and tasty.  Best of all: no hot kitchen.  I ate it that night with some leftover potato salad and some veggies.  The next night I created a big salad of many veggie things with my homemade rotisserie chicken breast as the star ingredient.  A few nights later another salad with different veggies and more of the fabulous chicken topping it.  Then a day later I made a simple stir fry with pad Thai noodles, broccoli florets, fresh ginger in thin strips, zuke half moons, fresh pea pods from the garden, onion and a diagonally sliced carrot.  Oh and I used the rest of the chicken breast for the protein in it. The rest of the stir fry: cold Thai salad for lunch the next day: I just added a bit of sesame oil and it was ready! Awesome!  No oven needed. Or wanted!

It is from my slow cooker cookbook by Carla Forbes. I know you will be pleased with how cool your kitchen stays and that it is safe for us gluten intolerant types.  For some reason most stores that sell rotisserie chicken add some gluten in the process.  I am guessing it is in the spice blend as is often the case with such flavor blends.  In any case, your homemade rotisserie chicken will be safe and succulent! And for anyone who doesn’t worry on gluten; well, this is a tasty dish you will love to have in your arsenal of hot weather entrée choices.

Hot Summer Rotisserie Chicken

1 four pound whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry

2 tbsp. olive oil

Spice blend: mix in a small dish

1 ½ tsp sat

2 tsp. paprika

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. dried thyme

½ tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. white pepper

½ tsp. cayenne pepper or hot chili powder

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. garlic powder

Directions: Remove any giblets and dispose of them how ever you like.  Just not gonna use them in this recipe! Or any I provide.  Ick!  Rinse the bird or not as you prefer: just be sure to pat dry with a couple paper towels.  Rub the spice mix all over the bird, pull back some breast skin and sprinkle the mix in there.  Sprinkle any extra inside the bird.  Place bird breast up in your six quart oval (not so good in round one!) slow cooker.  Drizzle the olive oil on top of your bird; all over it.  Cover and cook 4-5 hours on low or 3.5 on high.  I did 4 on low and turned it up to high for 45 minutes at the end. My bird was close to 5 pounds so I felt it needed a bit more cooking.

My recipe said you could make gravy: what I did was remove the bird and add 1/3 cup brown rice mixture flour and stir well to blend it into the pan juices and naturally created chicken broth.  Add salt and pepper to taste; cook on high for 10-15 minutes.

I ate some hot with potato salad that night and put the rest of it into a big batter bowl that has a lid.  Once it was cooled somewhat the bird went into the refrigerator to keep fresh and flavorful.  The broth soaks in and adds even more flavor as it rests in the cold fridge.

I have no picture of the done bird whole.  I was so hungry the first night I dug in and totally forgot to take one; next time I made it I will snap a few and upload to this post.  It looks like your regular rotisserie chicken if not as dry or dark skinned.

Originally posted July 2015. Minor changes to text made.