My first time in France, I landed in Paris without a hotel reservation or an itinerary. We just had a rental car and three weeks to explore so we headed south. Along the way there were plenty of farmers markets with great fresh bread, cheeses, and this type of chicken seemed to be the standard. That and a bottle of the local red wine and we were good to go!
Grilled Whole Chicken
- 1 whole Chicken
- 1 tbsp Kosher salt
- 1 tsp Black pepper
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
- 1/4 cup Fresh Thyme, fine chop
- 1 lemon, juiced
Depending on your knife skills, you might want to have your butcher cut the backbone out of the chicken. You can also do this style of grilling with half a chicken.
Preheat the grill to medium.
Use a 1/4 cup of olive oil to rub down the chicken and season with kosher salt and pepper.
Place chicken on the grill bone side down for 7-8 minutes with the cover down.
Now this is where it gets tricky. You'll turn to the skin side, but for only 3-4 minutes, covered. It's when you turn the chicken from the skin side back to the bone side that you want to be gentle not to have the skin stick to the grill. Repeat this process for a total of about 45 minutes depending on how big your chicken is.
While the chicken is grilling, combine 1/4 cup olive oil, thyme, and lemon juice.
Once chicken is finished grilling remove from the heat and let it rest for 5 minutes before cutting it into pieces.
Top with dressing and serve.