Jacques Pépin Roasted Split Chicken with Mustard Crust

This is a quick method of roasting chicken from Jacques Pépin's More Fast Food My Way. I saw an episode of him making this a few months back on PBS and decided to give it a whirl. What I am doing differently than the recipe as written below is transferring the chicken to a roasting pan after cooking the chicken in the skillet. The first time I made the recipe I followed it exactly. This time I bought two chicken halves that happened to be on sale at .79 cents/lb. Great deal and better yet that they were already split. Last time I asked the butcher to split a whole chicken for me and also to do cut through the joints.........I get squeamish when dealing with raw poultry. This is very tasty and the mustard crust mixture is delicious. Definitely will make the mixture to use for grilling poultry, seafood and veggies.

INGREDIENTS

Mustard Crust


2 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons dry white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 chicken (about 3 1/2 pounds)

DIRECTIONS

Mix all crust ingredients in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using kitchen shears or a sharp knife, cut alongside the backbone of the chicken to split it open. Spread and press on the chicken with your hands to flatten it. Using a sharp paring knife, cut halfway through both sides of the joints connecting the thighs and drumsticks and cut through the joints of the shoulder under the wings as well. (This will help the heat penetrate these joints and accelerate the cooking process).

Put the chicken skin side down on a cutting board and spread it with about half the mustard mixture. Place the chicken flat in a large skillet, mustard side down. Spread the remaining mustard on the skin side of the chicken. Cook over high heat for about 5 minutes, then place the skillet in the oven and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. It should be well browned and dark on top.

In skillet on stove top:

Out of oven (I used a roasting pan vs. putting skillets in oven):

Bo in his usual position at the table:



Let the chicken rest in the skillet at room temperature for a few minutes, then cut it into 8 pieces with clean kitchen shears. Defat cooking juices and pour over chicken, if desired.