Ok, I know I said I was NOT June Cleaver but when I find a good recipe I like to share! This is one of my favorite recipes from Southern Living. The recipe is EASY and so good! I have made it countless times and my children love it. I have also prepared it ahead of time and taken it to friends who were under the weather and just left it for them to bake and everyone has asked for the recipe after eating it. It does take some time to cook but takes NO time to prepare at all! The recipe is for 2 chickens but I usually split it in half and just do one. A lot of times after we eat dinner I take the rest of the chicken and shred it up to make gumbo or throw it into a salad. Let me know how you like it!
GINGER ALE CHICKEN (makes 8 servings)
2 (3 pound) whole chickens
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup liquid steak seasoning (I use Dale’s)
1 Tablespoon salt
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary (I always use half the amount of dried rosemary from the spice aisle)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp pepper
2 (12-oz) cans ginger ale
1. Remove giblets, necks, and all that other yucky stuff from chickens. Rinse and pat dry. Place each chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag.
2. Whisk together oil and next five ingredients. Pour evenly over chickens. Seal bags and chill, turning occasionally, for 8 hours (I do overnight or even longer). Remove chickens from marinade, discarding marinade.
3. Using a can opener, carefully remove lids from cans of ginger ale. Pour out about 1/4 of the ginger ale from each can (see note below). Place cans in a lightly greased large roasting pan or 9×13 inch dish. Place each chicken upright on ginger ale can, fitting can into cavity of chicken. Pull legs of chicken forward, allowing it to stand upright.
4. Bake uncovered, at 325 degrees for one hour and 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 170 degrees in the thigh. Chickens will be golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes; carefully remove cans before slicing. Enjoy!
* If you can, remove the whole top off the ginger ale can with a can opener instead of just popping the top.
that looks super tasty!