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Grilled Herbed Poussins

4.8

(20)

Image may contain Food Meal Dish Animal and Bird
Grilled Herbed PoussinsMikkel Vang

An herb paste smeared onto these birds adds a concentrated taste of summer; this works nicely with the poussins, since they're small enough to cook through before the herbs can threaten to burn.

Cooks' notes:

•Poussins can be rubbed with herb paste 1 day ahead and chilled.
•To cook poussins indoors, brown them as above in a hot large ridged grill pan over medium-high heat, then cover with an inverted roasting pan. Reduce heat to medium and cook about 18 minutes.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup chopped basil
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary
1 tablespoon thyme leaves
2 fresh bay leaves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 small garlic cloves, chopped
4 poussins (1 to 1 1/4 pound each) or small Cornish hens, backbones cut out and birds split in half

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Blend together herbs, oil, garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a blender until finely chopped, then rub all over poussins.

    Step 2

    Prepare grill for indirect-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium-high heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure .

    Step 3

    Oil grill rack, then grill poussins, skin sides down first, directly over coals, turning once, until well browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Move poussins to area with no coals underneath and grill, covered, until just cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes more. Transfer poussins to a platter and let stand 10 minutes.

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