Ginger Ale-Can Chicken

Prep: 10 min.; Chill: 8 hr.; Bake: 1 hr., 40 min.; Stand: 10 min. Use oven mitts or a towel to hold and gently slide chickens off the hot cans. Buy reduced-sodium liquid steak seasoning if you are watching your salt intake. Yield: Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

2 (3-lb.) whole chickens

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup liquid steak seasoning

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1 teaspoon pepper

2 (12-oz.) cans ginger ale Garnishes: red leaf lettuce, green grapes, rosemary sprigs

Preparation

1. Remove giblets and necks, if necessary. Rinse chickens with cold water; pat dry. Place each chicken in a large zip-top plastic freezer bag.

2. Whisk together oil and next 5 ingredients. Pour evenly over chickens. Seal bags, and chill, turning occasionally, 8 hours. Remove chickens from marinade, discarding marinade.

3. Using a can opener, carefully remove lids from cans of ginger ale. Remove one-fourth ginger ale from each can, and reserve for another use, leaving remaining ginger ale in can. Place cans in a lightly greased large roasting pan. Place each chicken upright onto a ginger ale can, fitting can into cavity. Pull legs forward to fo rm a tripod, allowing chickens to stand upright.

4. Bake, uncovered, at 325° for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted into thigh registers 170° and chickens are golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes; carefully remove cans before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Note: For testing purposes only, we used Dale's liquid steak seasoning.