The inspiration for these flavorful mustard crusted chicken thighs was a leftover bottle of pub style horseradish sauce. It was a week so after I made a prime rib and the half full jar of horseradish sauce was just languishing in the refrigerator door and I was wondering what the heck to do with it.  Now I have a plan for all future leftover horseradish sauce: German mustard crusted chicken thighs. I love the flavors of spicy German mustard on a real Frankfurter (not a lame American hotdog), and somehow this crust on a juicy chicken thigh reminded me of walking through the streets of Munich nibbling on a real wurst covered with rich brown mustard. I can’t really explain why adding the pub sauce gave the mustard so much extra power but wow it’s so good.

My husband is not a beer drinker or an eater of meat on a bone (it’s a gnawing thing, it just freaks him out) but he was still very happy with this dinner, so it must be good; although he did cut the meat off the bone with a knife and fork and a ridiculous amount of caution. The beer marinade is really great with this crust, it gives that last layer of flavor that makes this taste like a German wurst, so don’t skip it. The rich flavors are still light enough to be the prefect summer meal there is no need to wait for fall weather for this tasty meal. Just be sure you have a nice cold German beer to pair with it.

German Mustard Crusted Chicken

Ingredients

  • 6-9 bone in skinless chicken thighs

Beer Marinade

  • 1 beer
  • One large lemon
  • Palm full of mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp salt

Mustard Crust

  • 3 tbsp Dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp Whole grain brown mustard go for the good German stuff
  • 3 tbsp Pub style horseradish sauce
  • Generous amount pepper

Instructions

  1. Start by mixing up your marinade in a large non-reactive contain like a plastic bag or large corning wear dish with a lid. If necessary remove the skin from you bone in chicken thighs before placing them into the marinade. Let the chicken marinate for at least a few hours or a full day, don’t forget to flip the thighs around once in a while.
  2. Pre heat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the chicken from the marinade and dry the meat well, salt and pepper all sides of the meat. If a lot of the mustard seeds are sticking to you chicken you may want to pick them off, they are pretty hard and you don’t want to bite down on a bunch of those. Then place the chicken on a large broiler pan that you have sprayed with non-stick spray, leaving space between the pieces.
  3. Mix all the ingredients for the crust together and give the mixture a taste, adjust flavors to your preference. Spread a generous amount of the crust mixture on top of each chicken thigh. Place the broiler pan into the oven a let cook until the crust browns lightly and the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. If the crust is not browning fast enough you can turn the broiler on at the end to toast up the crust.
  4. These little guys are really flavorful; I served them with garlic green beans and a simple tomato and cucumber salad for an easy summer dinner. A nice clean white wine or light summer beer will round out your dinner perfectly.

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