Grill Roasted Chicken with Grilled Vegetables

I recently posted about the whole chicken sale our local Wal-mart is having.  It is a one week sale of two whole chickens for $10, limit two packages (4 chickens) per customer per visit.  The trick with these types of sales is to get the largest weight possible to reduce the cost per kilogram (pound) as they are sold in multiples of two regardless of the weight.  The second trick is to get their early in the morning to get the heaviest packages possible.  Sunday's purchases were a bit lower in weight (6.492 kg)  because I didn't get there until after lunch.    Monday's purchases came in at 7.236 kg.  I intend to end up with 16 chickens total so the next few posts will discuss what I do with all this chicken. 

The weather has been beyond unseasonably warm with highs in the 70's (F) and lows in the 50's (F).  We have had the furnace off for over a week now and the heat wave is predicted to continue for the rest of the week.  The house has actually been rather on the warm side so I decided to roast on of the chickens on the grill. 

The chickens are trussed so they cook nicely.  I cut away the excess fat without disrupting the leg trussing so I could stuff the chicken.  This is our favourite way to have roasted chicken.  Once the chicken was stuffed, I added about a half cup of water to the bottom of the soaked clay baker, put the chicken in, finished with salt and pepper and butter then placed it on the pre-heated grill (300ºF).  The propane side of our grill has three burners.  I used the two outer burners with the centre one off until it was time to brown up the chicken.

I wanted to add flavour without adding calories.  One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to use a smoking bisquette (blue arrow).  I use 100% organic Bradley Smoker smoking bisquettes The bisquette is placed directly on the pre-heated grill.  After 10 minutes, the grill is ready to use where the smoking bisquette will add a delicious wood-smoke flavour without the calories. 

Once the chicken started browning up a bit, I put the potatoes, zucchini and grape tomatoes on to grill.  Roasted tomatoes are simply delightful!  The flavour is rich and intensive yet smooth.  I hollowed out the zucchini to make grilled zucchini boats.

Just look at that beautiful roasted chicken with just a slight hint of apple smoke.  The deep golden colour comes easier using the grill.  The beauty of roasting a chicken or any other meat on the grill is you can infuse it with delicious, natural wood-smoke flavour while keeping the heat outdoors.  In this respect, roasting on the grill is superior to roasting in the oven. 

While the chicken was gorgeous, nicely roasted, there wasn't enough juice to make gravy.  It could have been due to the clay roasted as there wasn't much in the way of tasty yum yums as Emeril Lagasse puts it.

I served, the moist and tender, wonderfully flavoured grill roasted chicken with grill baked potatoes and zucchini boats.  The meal was beyond delicious!  My husband couldn't stop raving about it so that means it was a really good meal.

Grill Baked Potatoes
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

Wash the desired number of potatoes.  Poke with a fork to allow steam to escape.  Place on the grill on indirect heat.  Bake until tender.

Zucchini Boats
recipe by:  Garden Gnome

Choose zucchini that are about 8 - inches long.  Wash then cut the stem and blossom end off.  Cut the zucchini in half longitudinally from stem end to blossom end.  Use a spoon to scoop out a shallow channel.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt.  Turn cut side down onto grill on indirect heat.  Wash and cut grape or cherry tomatoes in half.  Place in a small foil baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place on the grill on indirect heat.  Cook the zucchini until tender with defined grill marks.  Remove from grill and plate.  Fill the channel with cooked tomatoes.  Sprinkle lightly with sea salt,  fresh cracked pepper and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.