Sticky, delicious chicken.

Hello again from the Caribbean! Today marks the beginning of our "semester break", which means we get one day off next Monday for a three day weekend. It seems paltry, and it kind of is, but it when you're used to putting in 8-12 hour days on campus 5 days a week, plus TA sessions on weekends, a day off feels like an eternity. So I'm going to be having an extra meal at home this week and thought I'd do it up right. Lucky for me the decision about what to cook was pretty much made for me as yesterday, while I wandered around the grocery store looking for ideas, I spotted whole chickens on sale. Sticky chicken it is!

This recipe always gets praise from my husband and friends. It's a rotisserie-like chicken with crispy, sticky skin, tender, juicy meat and lots of flavor.

4 lb whole chicken, skin on and guts removed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

If you don't like your food spicy, I've substituted the 1/4 tsp each of black and cayenne pepper for 1/2 tsp of lemon pepper in the past when I knew I was feeding people with a milder palate.

Sprinkle evenly all over your chicken and then rub the spices into the skin to evenly distribute the flavor all over the bird. Don't forget to rub a little bit on the walls inside of the chicken as well. Sometimes I spray a little canola oil on the skin before adding the spices to make it really crispy. If you want to use 4 lbs of split chicken breasts or drumsticks you can just toss them in a big bag with the spice mix, but I'm not sure how that would effect the cooking time so that's on you to figure out. Preheat your oven to 300 degees. Grease your baking dish, otherwise the skin will stick horribly and you'll lose all of that delicious flavor on one side of your bird. Bake low and slow, uncovered, for 3 hours or until it reaches 170 degrees internal temperature. Pull it out and while it rests it will continue to cook until it reaches 180 for perfect doneness.