BROILED POUSSINS WITH HERBS AND MUSTARD

APOULET GRILLÉ À LA DIABLE is a grilled chicken coated with mustard and bread crumbs. I have always found the result too dry, and, in fact, classically this dish is served with a sauce (called sauce diable), which compensates for the dryness. Instead of coating the chicken with bread crumbs, I use only mustard and a number of herbs normally found in a sauce diable, retaining much of the dish’s original character. The resulting moist and tender chicken needs no sauce other than the simple pan juices.

• Place the chicken halves skin side up in a roasting pan and spread half of the mustard over them. Sprinkle with half of the herbs and season with half the salt and pepper. Turn the chicken skin side down and repeat the seasoning process. (This can be done up to 12 hours in advance of cooking. Cover well and refrigerate.)
•  Preheat the broiler.
• Place the chicken halves 3 to 4 inches below the broiler, skin side down. When they have browned well on one side, 8 to 10 minutes, turn and broil on the other side, until well browned, about 7 minutes.
• Deglaze the pan by adding the wine, tilting the pan, and stirring to loosen the caramelized bits on the bottom of the pan. Baste the chicken with the liquid and broil for an additional 1 to 2 minutes; the juices of the chicken should run clear when it is pierced with a fork. The alcohol in the wine will evaporate and may ignite, but the flames will cease in seconds.
•  Serve the chicken with some of the pan juices.