Rotisserie Chicken

Part of my life at the Smelly Gourmet is a routine grocery shopping trip on many Mondays throughout the year.   It is  a hundred-mile round trip into Cincinnati via the Kroger's in Harrison Ohio and the Sams Club store on North Bend Road.  Drudgery, but necessary to keep the business going.

But lets get back to Sams Club, because that is where the whole effort is really made worthwhile for the day.  Near the end of my Sams Club shopping path, after the paper towels and toilet paper have been collected, and the salt, brown sugar and canola oil are in the cart, and those heavy jars of pickles and cases of water are loaded on, that is when you come to the most sensual part of the entire trip- the part that makes the entire effort worth it:  You come to the heated case at the meat counter that holds the fresh roasted rotisserie chickens:  cooked, hot, juicy, aromatic, beautiful, ready-to-eat!  They are huge, delicious looking and smelling, and under five bucks!  (You can't even buy a RAW chicken this size for under $5!)

I can't help myself- I've gotta take one home- sometimes two!  I load them carefully into and onto my cart, and protect them until I get them to the car, where they usually ride in a place of honor on the floor of the passenger side up front. That way, if I had to get on the brakes hard while driving home, they won't get upended on the floor.

After arrival back home, and after unloading all the heavy groceries into the house (do you know how much 50 pounds of flour weights? A case of 40 bottles of water?  4 one-gallon jars of dill pickle spears?  That stuff is HEAVY!) But what makes it all worthwhile?  I know that as soon as everything else is in, I get to dig into the rotisserie chicken!  That is my reward!

And WHAT a reward it is!  Pop that plastic box open and you are immediately assaulted by the intense aroma- which you've just been getting a hint of on the ride home. But now you get it full force!  Then, because I have washed my hands thoroughly, I take my sharp knife and remove the two legs from the chicken because that is the only part of the bird my bride really likes.  I put them aside for her, then get serious about dismembering and dining on the delicious juicy delectable bits of perfectly roasted meat.

This process totally captivates me- pulling off parts of chicken, tossing bones into the trash, tasting bits as I go.  Oh my God, that roasted skin with all the seasonings on it is so delicious!  But I know I can't eat all of the skin because it will ruin my diet, so much of it goes into the trash also, each bit a struggle for me to let go of as it goes into the can, but paid for by another bite of delectable thigh meat (my favorite part!)

There is something about my time alone tearing up this rotisserie chick that is very personal and private- I try not to think about the poor animal that has been sacrificed for my pleasure.  Brenda seems to understand to just leave me alone while I enjoy this experience.

I was not paid by Sams Club or anybody else to write this.  It comes from my heart!