Fabulicious!: On the Grill by Teresa Giudice Page B

in Italian cuisine and in our proverbs. There are tons of sayings that have to do with poultry. When you have little kids prowling around your kitchen looking for food, you might say: I putei se sempre col beco a moia come le galine or “babies always have their mouths open like chickens!” Health advice? Per non stare male, va letto con le galline e alzati con il gallo. “If you don’t want to feel bad, go to bed with the chickens and get up with the rooster.” The exclamation Quanne piscia ’a gallina! is used to mean something will never happen, or that you’ll never do something—sort of like “over my dead body” in English. What it literally means in Italian? “When the chicken pees.” (Because chickens actually don’t pee!)
    But my favorite saying of all is la gallina vecchia fa buon brodo , which translates to “the old hen makes a good broth,” meaning older women are valuable and—I’m not even kidding—good in bed!
    ----

    Â 
Whole Roast Chicken with Herb Rub
    Makes 4 to 6 servings
    My family loves when I roast a whole chicken on the grill, and I love that it doesn’t heat up the house. The crisp brown skin is amazing and so is the tender meat underneath. You can serve the pan sauce on the side, but in Italy, we pour it over the carved bird to make the juiciest chicken you’ve ever had. If you have a bottle of white wine open, use it to make the sauce, but, really, the drippings are so delicious that you can simply use water. Serve with a big green salad full of lots of vegetables and crusty bread.
    Herb Rub:
    2 garlic cloves, crushed under the flat side of a knife and peeled
    Â¼ teaspoon salt
    1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
    1 tablespoon dry white wine
    1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh thyme
    1½ teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage or rosemary, or a combination
    Â½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
    Roast Chicken:
    1 (6-pound) roasting chicken, giblets reserved, liver discarded or saved for another use
    2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1 teaspoon salt
    Â½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
    1 small onion, quartered
    Â½ cup dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio, or water
    Fresh sprigs of thyme, rosemary, or sage, for garnish
    1. To make the rub: Coarsely chop the garlic on a chopping board. Sprinkle with the salt and continue chopping until finely minced. Smear the garlic on the board to make a paste. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the oil, wine, thyme, sage, and red pepper flakes.
    2. To make the chicken: Remove and reserve the pads of yellow fat at the tail. Starting at the tip of the breast, loosen the skin and insert your hand under the skin, loosing the skin all over the chicken as best as you can. Using a small rubber spatula or a dessert spoon, spread the herb rub under the skin and all over the flesh. Rub the chicken all over with the 2 tablespoons oil and season inside and out with salt and pepper. Stuff the onion into the body cavity. Let the chicken stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
    3. Preheat the grill for indirect cooking with medium heat (400°F).
    4. Place the chicken on a wire rack in a metal roasting pan just large enough to hold the chicken. There is no need to truss the chicken. Add the chicken fat and giblet to the roasting pan—they will help flavor the pan juices. Put the roasting pan with the chicken on the grillover the unignited burner(s) and close the lid. Cook, basting quickly with the pan juices every 30 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh reads 165°F, about 1¾ hours. Remove the pan from the grill. Stick a large metal spoon into the chicken cavity and tilt it to drain the juices into the roasting pan. Transfer the chicken to a platter. Let the chicken stand for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
    5. Meanwhile, make the pan sauce: Pour the pan juices from the roasting pan into a small glass bowl and let stand 3