Dutch Oven Chicken Recipes, Part III

Spicy Roast Chicken

I did something very similar to this a few months ago on a turkey, and it was phenomenal. My whole family loved it. It's a very very simple dish. It only takes a few minutes and a few ingredients to prepare it (once the chicken itself is thawed). All you do is prepare a rub (more of a spice and flavoring paste, really, and cover the chicken in it. It really is basic dutching at its finest. Of course, the results taste far from basic. That's the beauty of it!

I'm particularly proud of this one, because even though it's based on some things that are pretty common, like basic Jerk Chicken, it's my own combination.

Dutch Oven Spicy Roast Chicken

12” deep Dutch Oven 14-15 coals, each, above and below

• 1 5lb Chicken, thawed, patted dry.
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 4-5 green onions, sliced
• ½ Tbsp Cayenne Pepper
• ½ Tbsp Paprika
• ½ Tbsp Salt
• ½ Tbsp Pepper
• ½ Tbsp Cumin Powder
• ½ Cup Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• 4-5 green onions, sliced
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Juice of 1 Lemon
• Olive Oil

OK, here's how you do it! Follow these steps in this chicken recipe and you'll really wow them.

First, I thawed the chicken, patted it dry, etc. One thing I like to do with poultry is to take a fork or sharp knife and poke holes in the skin, to allow more of the spice flavor to seep into the meat. I put the chicken, breast side up, in the bottom of the 12” deep dutch oven. I don't know if it would have fit in a shallow. I didn't check, to be honest...

Then I took the onions and the green onions and scattered them around the sides.

While the coals were getting hot, I took a little time to make the spice rub/paste. It's simple to do, really. I just mixed all the ingredients in the second set, except the oil. You can adjust them to taste. If you like yours to be a little hotter, with more bite, add more Cayenne, etc... Do it how you like it, or follow what I've got here.

Once those ingredients are all mixed in, and stirred up, I just gradually added a bit of oil, while stirring, just enough to make it like a paste.

Then, I took a fork and smeared that paste all over the top surfaces of the chicken. I covered as much as I could, but I didn't want it to end up on the bottom of the dutch oven.

Then I put it on the coals. Now, you have to keep a side fire going, some extra coals. The ones you start with on your dutch oven are going to go out long before the chicken is done. So, about every 20 minutes or so, you add another 5-10 coals into the side fire. These catch fire from the ones that were in there, still burning before. After about another 20 minutes, you pull some out to supplement those ones that are now burning out. Doing this, you can keep your heat on almost indefinitely.

This chicken took about an hour and a half to reach the internal temperature of about 180. I just used a thermometer stuck in the breast. It's the easiest way to tell if it's done.

Since it's done in the Dutch Oven, it comes out moist and steamed. The spices seep down in, and man, it's great! Probably my favorite roast chicken recipe ever!