Coke Can Chicken

I love buying a whole chicken at the market, and I am a really big proponent of organic, cage-free chickens. Yes, they can be more expensive, but the flavor is so much better. Buying whole is a way to keep your meat costs down, as you pay extra for someone else to butcher the chicken. The great bonus about a whole chicken are the bones for stock, the liver and heart for frying up (perfect with eggs for breakfast!)
This is a really popular method of cooking chicken, but my husband and I just recently started making it. He has been making this dish lately, with a beer can, and I cannot get over how moist and delicious the chicken meat tastes. I wanted to do a version with soda to see if the flavor noticeably changed, but I came to the conclusion that it's not very important what is in the can, so long as it's steaming the chicken from the interior while the skin roasts.
Last week, I made a version roasting two of my favorite vegetables, fennel and cauliflower, in the pan, and coating the chicken with a peppery, anise flavored rub to compliment those two vegetables. It's one of my favorite yet.


Pepper Anise Rub

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Black Peppercorns
1 Teaspoon of Thyme
1 Teaspoon of Paprika
1/2 Teaspoon of Caraway Seeds
1/2 Teaspoon of Red Pepper
1 Star Anise

Preparation:

In a spice grinder, or a mortar and pestle, grind your spices together until mostly smooth.


Coke Can Chicken

Ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken

1 Can of Coke, Half Empty (Or beer, or any other 12 oz can of beverage you like!)

1 Head of Cauliflower, Chopped Roughly
2 Bulbs of Fennel, Sliced Thinly
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Salt 
Pepper Anise Rub

Cooking:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Pat the chicken dry and coat the entire bird in the rub. Place the coke can upright in a roasting pan and place the bird carefully over it. The can should almost entirely fit within the bird and it will keep the bird upright. Place the vegetables around the bird in the pan and sprinkle on the salt and olive oil. Put the pan into the oven and roast for one and a half hours. Carefully remove the bird and carve!