My teenager made this using a can of his favorite soda - root beer. It turned out so tender and delicious that it practically fell apart coming out of the roasting pan.
Yield: 8 servings
Grab a can of soda - cola's a good choice, root beer will do... I probably wouldn't use a fruit soda like orange or grape, but ginger ale or Sprite would be ok. Pop it open and take a couple good swigs. The soda can should end up about 1/2 - 2/3 left.
Prepare the chicken. Remove the giblets and discard. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Take about 2 Tbsp. of dry rub (I try to keep some Memphis Dry Rub on hand in the pantry.) and pat it onto the chicken.
Put the soda can in the bottom of a roasting pan. Set the chicken over top of the soda can. The chicken sits upright (Jeff wants me to tell you it looks like a zombie chicken, like it's about to go for a walk or kick a bard in the shins. Maybe I should keep a closer eye on the movies he's watching...)
Bake the chicken at 350° for about 2 hours.
Remove from oven and let stand about 10 min. before you try to remove the soda can and carve the bird.
Serve with hot buttered noodles and steamed snow peas.