Butterflied Chicken Dijon Grilled on a Bed of Thyme

Submitted by KathyP53

"Yummy! From Fine Cooking magazine."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 (4 lb) roasting chickens
• 1⁄4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried herbes de provence
• 1⁄4 teaspoon paprika (preferably smoked sweet Spanish pimenton)
• kosher salt
• extra virgin olive oil (for brushing)
• 2 ounces fresh thyme (soaked in water for at least 30 minutes)

directions

1. Butterfly chicken by cutting along each side of backbone with poultry shears and removing it. Flip chicken over and press firmly on the center of the breast to break breastbone.
2. In a medium bowl, combine mustard, scallions, butter, herbes, paprika, and a large pinch of kosher salt; mix until smooth.
3. Brush chicken all over with oil and season lightly on both sides with 1 teaspoons kosher salt. Runn one or two fingers between the skin and flesh of breasts; drumsticks, and thighs. Take care not to tear skin. Dip you hand in the mustard mixture and put a dollop under the skin. Smooth the skin to evenly distribute the mustard mixture. Repeat until you've used up the mixture and it's evenly distributes. Rub the mixture that remains on your hands evenly over the outside of the chicken. Remove any scallion piexes and put them back under the skin. Tuck wingtips under the breast and refrigerate chicken until ready to grill or up to 4 hours ahead of time.
4. Just before cooking, remove the thyme from the water. Lay the bunches of wet thyme in one layer on the side of the grill not over direct heat to form a bed. Put the chicken, skin side up, on top of the thyme, cover, and cooke until a thermometer inserted in the thigh registers 165- 170 degrees, 30-35 minutes. Brush the chicken all over with a thin coating of olive oil, cover the grill and continue cooking until a thermometer in the thigh read 175-180 degrees, another 10-15 minutes.
5. Remove chicken from the grill and discard thyme. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before cutting into quarters and serving.

Reviews

[zeldaz51]

Wonderful! Relatively easy to make. The mustard adds a nice piquant quality, even in the cold leftovers. Butterflying helps it cook evenly, and the skin gets golden and crisp even though it is cooked skin side up. The recipe does not include it, but we recommend brining the bird to improve flavor and juiciness (2 qt. water, 1 c. kosher salt, 1/2 c. sugar; submerge whole chicken for 2 to 3 hr. Keep it in fridge).