In the summertime we love to cook outdoors on our grill as often as we can. We love to use the rotisserie because it does not require a lot of hands-on maintenance beyond adding a few more coals every 30 minutes. It also does a wonderful job of self-basting whatever kind of meat we are cooking.  One summer we decided to experiment with marinades for chicken.  We prepared 2 whole chickens for the rotisserie, one we marinated with a store bought marinade and the other with a marinade recipe we found in the newspaper.  After the chickens were cooked there was very little difference in their appearance, but the homemade recipe was much “tastier” than the store bought one.  And so this recipe became known as “Tasty Chicken”.  We try to let the chicken marinade for a few hours before we put it on the rotisserie but when time is short, it works fine with just 1 hour in the marinade.

 

Today we used this recipe for some Cornish game hens.  When using a regular chicken, we can only fit two birds on the spit at one time.  With the game hens, four will easily fit on the spit.

 

We placed the red hot coals to the backside of the grill and lined the bottom with disposable drip pans.  These birds will self-baste as they turn on the spit, and drip a lot of juice too.

 

It usually takes about an hour fifteen minutes to an hour and a half depending on the heat of the coals. They come out golden brown & delicious.

 

Plate them up and enjoy. We always make a whole Cornish game hen for each person in our family, but with the size of these, one could easily feed two people. Served with a salad, fresh corn and stuffing it makes quite a “tasty” meal.

 

 

Tasty Chicken
 
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This is a great marinade for making rotisserie chicken, oven roasted chicken, or game hens. Double the recipe if making 2 whole chickens.
Ingredients
  • 1 medium onion, grated or finely diced
  • 2 Tablespoons parsley, chopped
  • 2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
  • 3 Tablespoons Lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • ½ teaspoon ground white pepper
Instructions
  1. Whisk together all the ingredients in a large bowl. Place a whole chicken in a gallon-size zip lock bag and spoon the marinade all around it, put at least one spoonful inside the bird.
  2. Marinate in the refrigerator 1 - 8 hours until ready to cook.
  3. For rotisserie: cook for 1-1/2 hours
  4. For oven roasted chicken: bake at 375 degrees for 1-1/2 - 2 hours.