Poussins with mustard, honey and lemon

Young chickens are nothing more than young chickens that weigh around half a kilo and have tender, lean meat, although somewhat bland to my taste. For this reason, when I prepare them, I try to accompany them with very aromatic ingredients so they soak up the flavors well.

I usually bake them, since they take very little time to cook and are ideal both for a weeknight dinner and for a celebration day, because, when served whole, they look very pretty on the plate.

Today I used my coastal blue casserole to cook them, this time without a lid, so they take on a lovely color as a result of the dressing I made with honey, lemon and mustard. You can't imagine how good my kitchen smelled while they were in the oven!

In the photo, Le Creuset round casserole, and Pallarès iron knife

Ingredients (for 2 people)

2 young chickens
1 lemon
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of mustard
a few sprigs of rosemary
2 apples
4 cloves of garlic
olive oil
salt
ground black pepper
water

Preparation

1. Take the young chickens out of the fridge 2 hours before you start cooking and prepare a dressing with the juice of half a lemon, the honey, the mustard, a pinch of salt and pepper and a splash of olive oil. Emulsify well and rub the young chickens inside and out with this mixture. Reserve a little of the dressing.
2. Insert 1/4 lemon and the rosemary sprigs into the cavity of each chicken.
3. Put the young chickens in a casserole, along with the two whole apples, the unpeeled garlic cloves, ¼ of a lemon and a splash of water. Cover the casserole and let everything rest for 2 hours.
4. Preheat the oven to 200º, top and bottom heat. Once it reaches temperature, put the casserole in without the lid and lower the temperature to 180º.
5. Let the young chickens bake for about 45 minutes, until they take on a nice golden color. Halfway through cooking, brush the chickens with the dressing you reserved at the beginning. Use a kitchen brush to do this.
6. When the poussins are done, take them out of the oven. Place them on a plate and reduce the juices that remain in the casserole for a few minutes so the flavors concentrate well.