Simple Gifts: Savory Herb Rub for Chicken

My husband is in love with me for the savory herb rub I use on baked chicken. I know he loves me for more, but there is definitely good reason for his liking my herb-roasted chicken. Nothing adds juicy, tasty and crispy to chicken like an herb rub. It’s hard to beat a simple recipe that works, and this fits the bill: simple, fast, easy, and really, really yummy.

Savory Herb Rub
for baked or barbecued meats
A big thank you to Steve Dimitrovic, who served this chicken years ago and told me how to make it. Steve learned to bake chicken from his mother, who moved to the United States from Serbia with her husband in about 1960. This is the juiciest baked chicken you will ever find!

• 3 cups salt
• 3 cups paprika
• 3/4 cup black pepper
• 1 – 1/2 cups lemon pepper

Stir together until mixed. Fills about 20 four-ounce spice jars.

Instructions for Herb-Roasted Chicken
• 4 tsp savory herb rub
• 1 average-size chicken, about 3 – 1/2 pounds

You will need a small baking pot with a tight-fitting lid that the chicken will fit in. Oil the baking pot. Rinse & dry the chicken, then rub it all over inside and outside with the herb rub. Put the chicken in the pot and bake – uncovered – at 400 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately cover with the lid. Let stand for 20 to 30 minutes – this is a part of the cooking process; do not take off the cover until serving.

For a larger chicken, keep in oven for an additional 15-25 minutes.

For a single recipe of herb rub, use 1 – 1/2 tsp salt, 1 – 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp lemon pepper.

To Package for Gifts:
• Labels – I used rectangular labels as well as text labels to include instruction for herb-roasted chicken.
• Paper – I used brown kraft paper
• Bakers twine
• Spice jars – about $12 for 12 at Specialty Bottle

To package my herb rub for gifts I first filled my spice jars with full with the herb mix. To decorate the jars, I used personalized rectangle labels for the front and a text label with my recipe for herb-roasted chicken on the back. Next I cut 3″ circles from kraft paper to cover the lids of each jar. I tied the paper secure with baker’s twine and finished it with another 1-inch circle label.

Guidelines for Simple Gifts:
• Plan ahead. Think about and decide what you want to do well in advance so you can do the shopping portion of the giftmaking along with other errands. Have all materials and ingredients on hand when it is time to make the gift.
• Packaging. Pretty packaging makes any gift special. Arm yourself with a supply of small boxes or cellophane bags and ribbon. We also recommend having your own personalized tags or labels on hand. Use generic wording so they can be used on a multitude of items. For example, mom’s tags and labels say “with love from Grammie.” With no reference to what the item is, they can be used on anything!
• It is not the item itself that is special; it is the idea that you think enough about a person to prepare something personally for them. Sometimes your gift doesn’t even have to be handmade; but hand-assembled. Follow this monthly series and you will see examples of both.

More Simple Gift Ideas…

More Simple Gift Ideas…

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