I hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend and enjoyed some good cooking! We sure did. We had our grandkids along with their mom and dad for the whole weekend. We went swimming (or they did while I watched with my ankle propped up), cooked a lot of good food, and just generally enjoyed doing whatever we pleased for a few days.
This is a recipe I’ve been meaning to post for several months now and really wanted to get it out to you before summer is over. But, you know, this buttery barbecued chicken would work any time of the year. It doesn’t require outdoor cooking and the ingredients are available any time. I especially like it because it doesn’t require a whole lot of watching. Just prepare your sauce, get your chicken ready, and let your oven do the work.
You start this recipe by preparing the sauce. Combine shallots, green onions, thyme, and water in a small saucepan and cook over low heat for a few minutes until the shallots and onions are tender. Then add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, and lemon juice. Continue cooking a few more minutes, then let the mixture sit for a while to develop its flavors.
After a while, bring the sauce back to a low temperature and stir in cold butter, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Yum. This makes a tangy, buttery, rich sauce that is very much like barbecue sauce but not quite. Very, very good!
Dry the chicken, put in a foil-liked baking pan (makes cleaning up later much easier!), and sprinkle it all over with salt and pepper. Brush half the melted butter all over the chicken. Cook for 30 minutes, basting frequently.
After 30 minutes, remove the pan from the oven and brush on the barbecue sauce. Cover it really generously with the sauce. Return the pan to the oven and continue cooking until the chicken reaches 165 degrees when tested with a meat thermometer. During the last 10 minutes or so of cooking, arrange some lemon slices over the chicken. Be sure to baste the lemon slices when basting the chicken.
Remove the chicken from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes. Sprinkle with fresh thyme sprigs before serving.
Oven baked chicken with a rich, tangy, buttery barbecue sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 shallots, finely chopped
- 2 green onions, white part only, finely chopped
- 1/3 cup water
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 5-6 sprigs fresh lemon thyme
- 2 tblsp. white wine vinegar
- 2 tblsp. ketchup
- 2 tblsp. lemon juice
- 4 tblsp. cold butter
- 10-12 shakes Tabasco
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 small (3 lb.) frying chicken, butterflied
- 6 tblsp. butter, melted
- One lemon, sliced
- Additional fresh lemon thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Place the shallots, green onions, thyme and water in a small saucepan and simmer over medium low heat for about 2 minutes or until the shallots and onions are tender.
- Add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, and lemon juice and continuing cooking over medium low heat for 5-6 minutes.
- Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to develop.
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Bring the sauce back to a very low temperature and stir in the cold butter, a tablespoon at a time. Add the Tabasco, salt and pepper.
- Dry the chicken well and place it breast side up in a foil-lined baking pan. Sprinkle the chicken all over with salt and pepper. Brush half the melted butter over the chicken.
- Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, basting frequently with the remaining butter and the accumulated pan juices.
- After 30 minutes of cooking, remove the pan from the oven and brush the chicken all over with the barbecue sauce. Return to the oven and continue cooking and basting with sauce and pan juices until an internal temperature of 165° is reached (15-30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken).
- During the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, arrange lemon slices over the top of the chicken. Be sure to baste the lemon slices when basting the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and allow it to rest for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle with additional fresh lemon thyme if desired.
Notes
Adapted from Heritage of Southern Cooking by Camille Glenn
Other barbecued chicken recipes you might enjoy from around the internet:
- Korean Barbecue Chicken from One Perfect Bite
- Oven Baked BBQ Chicken from The Hungry Mouse
- Grandma Barb’s Baked BBQ Chicken from Divas Can Cook
- Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Barbecued Chicken from Food Network
What I was up to…
- One year ago: Herbed Roasted Potatoes
- Two years ago: Fire and Ice Tomatoes
- Three years ago: Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
This looks absolutely scrumptious! Can’t wait to try it!
They don’t appear to have fryers up here in Michigan. The smallest chicken I could find at the grocery store yesterday was 4.75. Most were over 5 lbs. I’m still going to try this, just bake it longer. It looks great.
Rachel – I can usually find smaller chickens only in the organic section. You might try looking for one of those.
BBQ chicken is my favorite, and this one look really yummy. When BBQ chicken, I always add some honey and lots of garlic. It bring good flavor that I love so much. :)
Yes, I agree. Honey and garlic are always good flavor components for barbecued chicken.
OH my goodness..I just about died when I saw this chicken! I cannot wait to make it..and it has to be soon.. or I will die ;)
If you do make it, I’d love to know how it turns out.
So golden-buttery-good! I love simple go-to recipes that can be jazzed up on a whim! Thanks for sharing.
Oh wow, Lana, that looks phenomenal!
Thanks so much, Carolyn. It has long been a favorite of ours.
Dang woman…you make me want this for BREAKFAST!! Funny, I have an old sauce I’m getting ready to publish for my Wednesday feature; we have got to stick to our guns…so many wonderful things from our past we have to share!
I’m loving your Wednesday feature! I kinda like that “just the facts, ma’am” aspect of giving a recipe and a couple of photos. I might post more often if I did’t feel compelled to write *something* to go with the recipe every time.
you say to put it back in the oven until the temperature reaches 165 degrees. Do you have an approx. time for how long it will take once you put it back in the oven? 10 minutes, 20 minutes? Thank you for your time.
Tammy, it depends on the size of the chicken. I always use a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh to tell when it’s done, but another good way to check is to make sure that the juices run clear (no pink at all) and the leg should move easily. This recipe usually takes a total of about one hour cooking time.
OOOO this looks good. Wish I had some for dinner tonight.
Wow, this chicken looks like perfection!
Slamma Jamma Miss Lana!
Home run.
Miss P
It looks amazing! I love roasting chickens.