Paleo-friendly, low-carb & delicious!
Many years ago I used to visit a cooking forum that is long gone. One recipe was a big hit with many of the members: Mimi’s Sticky Chicken. I admit the name is not very sexy, but once you’d read the many stellar reviews, you’d be inclined to disregard the sticky issue and give it a try. Over the years, that exact recipe has been published in websites everywhere, credit not always given to the author. So, without further ado, here you have the original link. I tried to find out Mimi’s whereabouts, but my search skills returned nothing. As you can see in the link, she created this recipe in the early 80’s, and asked for full credit whenever someone talked about it. It’s only fair. I used to make it quite often when I was dating Phil and during the early years of our marriage, as the kids absolutely loved it. For some reason, I forgot all about it. It’s been definitely more than a decade since I last had it on our table. But to compensate, I made it twice in the last month. HA!
MIMI’S STICKY CHICKEN
(modified from the original version found here)
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 whole roasting chicken, about 3 pounds
1 shallot, cut in half
1 lemon, cut in quarters
Combine all spices in a small bowl. Dry chicken very well, rub the spice mixture over skin and sprinkle a little inside the cavity. Place in a bag or in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
Heat the oven to 250F. It is not a typo. It is a very low oven. When ready to roast, stuff the cavity of the chicken with the shallots and lemon. Place it breast side down in a roasting pan (I like to use a small rack to keep it elevated, spraying the rack with olive oil to prevent the skin from sticking to it).
Cook for about 5 hours, or until the internal temperature reaches 155 F. Baste occasionally after the first two hours, with the liquid that starts to accumulate in the roasting pan.
If you like to crisp up the skin, carve the chicken in pieces and place under the broiler briefly. It will falling apart, so handle it gently.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: Amazing how something we loved so much could end up neglected for years. Two things I’d like to bring up: first, if you don’t have time to refrigerate the bird overnight with the spice mixture, don’t worry, just go ahead with it right away. Second, if you are not around to baste the chicken, it won’t be a serious drawback. When ready to serve, baste a little with the roasting liquid, and go for that brief encounter with the broiler. On your first time making this recipe, it would be nice to check the temperature and see if after 4 hours the meat is already approaching 155F. If it is, don’t leave it all the way to the five-hour mark. Once you get to know how your oven behaves, you can trust the timing a bit more. Make sure to always roast a chicken of similar size.
As I mentioned before, once the meat is cooked, it will be falling apart. Note in the picture below how the bone broke through the skin.
I also like to squeeze the roasted lemon all over the chicken right before serving, and sometimes will grab a fresh one to make sure to get that extra bite of acidity that goes so well with it.
Dinner is served: Mimi’s Sticky Chicken,
Pan-Steamed Broccoli, and Roasted Butternut Squash…
ONE YEAR AGO: Perfect Soy-Grilled Steak
TWO YEARS AGO: The Devil’s Bread
THREE YEARS AGO: Heart of Palm Salad Skewers
FOUR YEARS AGO: Potluck Frittata and Lavoisier
FIVE YEARS AGO: Home-made Corn Tortillas
SIX YEARS AGO: Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Peanut Sauce
SEVEN YEARS AGO: Brigadeiros: A Brazilian Party!
EIGHT YEARS AGO: Lemony Asparagus
Sounds amazingly delicious.
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indeed it is, making it even harder to understand how could I forget it completely…
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Great flavours for my chicken lovers 😄😄😄
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yes, that rub is money! your guys will love it, you can use it on the barbecue too
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Perfect!
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I love long and low chicken just as much as the more well known pork dish. I’m doing 3 smallish chickens today, celebrating 36 years of togetherness. 😉 Was planning beer can style on the Weber, wonder if I dare try to maintain that temp. on there? One chicken is in Mean Chefs maple ginger soya sauce brine and the other 2 are rubbed in a mixture of garlic, fresh rosemary, lemon zest and juice, and s&p.
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CONGRATULATIONS!!!! What a wonderful time, celebrating so many years together, I am melting here… Hope you had a fantastic time, sorry I did not see it sooner, but we are away from home and checking the blog has been iffy…
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CONGRATULATIONS! What a wonderful time, celebrating so many years together… I am melting here… SOrry I did not catch that on the very day, we are away on a trip and checking the blog has been iffy…. I hope you had a fantastic celebration!
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The Weber has 3 burners so with some adjustments between Off and Low we managed to keep it at 300-350 for 2 hours. I went to check half hour before supper and it was too low heat, sure enough we ran the tank on empty. Before I could panic Glen checked all 3 and they were perfectly ready. Sweet!
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This sounds amazing! My hubby once cooked a chicken at that temp. I certainly had my doubts, but it worked. I can’t remember how long it took, it was many years ago. That was very kind of you to attribute the recipe back to Mimi, the original.
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I think credit is super important, and in these days of social media, very easy to overlook. Especially when Mimi was kind enough to say go ahead and share, but just give me credit… the minimum we can do is make sure that happens…
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