Kansas City PlowBoys Dry Rub Roast Chicken

My blog post this week is about a delicious Oven Roast Chicken recipe inspired by a cross-country road trip. Several weeks ago my daughter and I took a marathon auto trip — driving from Boston, Massachusetts, to Aspen, Colorado, where she was going to live for the summer. Let us just say, it was a long — and boring — drive! We listened to lots of murder-mystery podcasts and watched the scenery go by. Kansas was interesting — this state must have the record for most windmills; a sight that you don’t see in Louisiana. The huge, silent and futuristic windmills filled the countryside and provided lots of photo opportunities for the passenger. Clean energy and our future, I presume!

Here is my “PlowBoys Dry Rub Roast Chicken” which I made as a result of this trip. To make the recipe, I brushed melted butter on the chicken pieces, sprinkled on the Kansas City dry rub and baked the chicken in a hot oven. The chicken turned out crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside. It was a very tasty recipe, indeed. Just in time for the Fourth of July. And the recipe was so incredibly easy — just 3 ingredients. The oven did all the work.

Kansas City, Missouri, PlowBoys Barbecue

The other highlight of the Kansas portion of the interstate journey was playing hopscotch with a very professional-looking barbecue rig. We passed it at least three times as we drove across Kansas over two days. When we got to downtown Denver — we passed the rig again! Go figure — must be destiny. This time I took a photo just to capture the name of the rig — PlowBoys BBQ. Wonder where they were headed. Guess I’ll never know!

According to their website, this outfit is located in Kansas City, Missouri, and specializes in Kansas City-style barbecue. The Plowboys’ family operates several restaurants and they participate in professional barbecue competitions. According to their press, they have won many national competitions. The company also markets a variety of barbecue sauces and dry spice combinations. Of course, I had to purchase two of the dry seasoning jars and try them out cooking “PlowBoys Dry Rub Roast Chicken.” (Thanks, Amazon Prime.) Although the company’s specialty is Kansas City-style pork and beef, I purchased dry rubs intended for poultry and fish. “Fin & Feather” promises a taste of lemon, garlic and herbs. “Yardbird Rub” contains sugar, pepper, paprika and a variety of spices. Both contain plenty of salt.

A purchased dry rub seasoning makes an easy way to cook flavorful baked chicken. There are plenty of Cajun-type seasonings on the market that work well for this dish but they can sometimes be very “hot” with the cayenne pepper. And it is not difficult to make your own dry rub. However, these commercial dry rubs make things even easier. I was curious to see how the PlowBoys seasonings compared in taste to my favorite Cajun seasonings.

This very simple recipe has only 3 ingredients. You need chicken leg quarters — I used individual chicken thighs and drumsticks — Plowboys dry rub and butter. I prefer using leg quarter pieces rather than chicken breasts. I’m going for crispy and juicy chicken with lots of flavor! Chicken breasts tend to be much dryer.

Although it may be tempting to remove the skin of the chicken pieces, it should be left intact. The skin provides crispness and flavor.

To make the recipe, wash and pat dry the chicken pieces. The chicken needs to be totally dry so it will crisp up in the oven. Layer the chicken in a single layer in a baking pan. Spread melted butter over all sides of the chicken pieces. Sprinkle on either of the Plowboys dry rubs, “Fin & Feather” or “Yardbird Rub.”

I baked the chicken leg pieces in a hot, 400 degree oven for 40 minutes in the center rack of the oven. At 40 minutes, the chicken was crisp and the meat was tender inside. Remember, the chicken will continue to cook after removing from the oven, so don’t overcook. There are so, so many suggestions as to what temperature and how long to bake chicken in the oven. I like a relatively hot oven for cooking these leg pieces, needed to crisp the skin. I used chicken leg quarters which were cut into drumsticks and thighs. If cooking whole quarters, I suggest using a thermometer and removing the chicken at 165 degrees. They will probably take longer than 40 minutes to cook completely.

Here is my “Plowboys Dry Rub Roast Chicken” ready for dinner. The seasonings were just right. Nice flavor but not too, too much pepper. We really liked both the dry rub seasonings. The “YardBird Rub” was perhaps just a little “hotter” and browned darker. I will use both again in the future as they made a delicious chicken dish. (I sure did purchase large containers of the seasonings!)

For a Fourth of July picnic, I will always serve this chicken meal with corn on the cob. Just a family tradition. I also had a nice russet potato on hand and diced it to make “Tabasco Roasted Potatoes” which baked along in the oven while the chicken roasted. Double use of the oven.

Enjoy this patriotic Fourth of July holiday. Let’s appreciate this great country that we live in!

What an adventure we had driving across the country. I find it fascinating to travel to different states and parts of our country. You learn so much just by observing what is around you. Indianapolis, for example, must be planning to be a major hub in cross-country supply chain distribution. We observed non-stop 18-wheeler rig travel on I-70 and many huge distribution centers being built around Indianapolis.

The state of New York seems to be getting a grip on the worker shortage problem by using tandem 18-wheeler rigs.

And the windmills in Kansas are always a fascinating sight. I can only guess that our future clean energy supply has arrived! 

Nothing exciting happening in Ohio except that the construction on the Ohio interstate system around Columbus which we observed in 2018 now appears to be complete. Wonderful 3-lane interstate through that part of the state.

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