Roast Chicken With Arugula And Bread Salad Recipes

WARM ROAST CHICKEN BREAST AND BREAD SALAD WITH ARUGULA

Steps:

• Place oven rack at lowest level and preheat oven to 450.
• Toss bread cubes with 1 tablespoon of the oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Place bread in 8 inch baking dish and set aside.
• Dry chicken with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil until hot. Place chicken in skillet, skin side down, and saute until skin is deep golden color, about 5 minutes.
• Place chicken, skin side up, on bread cubes in baking dish and bake until the thickest part of the breast is 160-165 degrees and the bread is spotty brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. Take care, don't overcook the breasts!
• Transfer chicken to cutting board. When chicken is cool enough, take meat off bones and cut into pieces similar in size to bread cubes. Throw away the bones.
• While chicken is baking, pour off fat in skillet, add the last tablespoon of oil, the garlic and thyme, and cook for a moment until the garlic is fragrant. Add broth and scrape up any brown bits from skillet. Cook until thickened slightly, stir in vinegar, cover, and take off the heat.
• Toss bread cubes in a bowl with most of dressing mixture in skillet - reserve 2 tablespoons - add chicken and any juices from it. Then add arugula, tomato, pine nuts and the remaining dressing. Season with salt and pepper to taste - remember, the cheese will add some salty taste. Toss a final time. Garnish with Parmesan shavings and serve.
• (To gild the lilly a bit, you can add what Lydia Bastianich calls a final "blessing" of extra virgin olive oil. Or, put that on the table. Some will find it fine without.).
• Enjoy!

ROAST CHICKEN WITH ARUGULA AND BREAD SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°F. Place bread on large baking sheet. Bake until bread is lightly toasted, about 6 minutes. Set aside. Maintain oven temperature.
• Rinse chicken inside and out; pat dry. Sprinkle inside and out with salt and pepper. Place breast side up on rack in heavy large roasting pan. Tie legs together to hold shape. Roast chicken 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Roast until meat thermometer inserted into thigh registers 180°F, basting occasionally during last 15 minutes, about 45 minutes longer. Transfer chicken to platter. Tent with foil.
• Pour pan juices into 4-cup measuring cup (do not clean pan). Spoon fat off top of pan juices, returning 2 tablespoons fat to pan. Add pan juices, canned chicken broth and vinegar to pan. Bring to boil atop stove, scraping up browned bits. Add green onions and currants. Simmer 3 minutes to reduce liquid slightly. Remove from heat. Add bread to pan and toss with juices. Mix in arugula. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with chicken.

ZUNI ROAST CHICKEN WITH BREAD SALAD

Steps:

• Seasoning the chicken (1 to 3 days before serving; for 3-1/4- to 3-1/2-pound chickens, at least 2 days):
• Remove and discard the lump of fat inside the chicken. Rinse the chicken and pat very dry inside and out. Be thorough-a wet chicken will spend too much time steaming before it begins to turn golden brown.
• Approaching from the edge of the cavity, slide a finger under the skin of each of the breasts, making 2 little pockets. Now use the tip of your finger to gently loosen a pocket of skin on the outside of the thickest section of each thigh. Using your finger, shove an herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.
• Season the chicken liberally all over with salt and the pepper (we use 3/4 teaspoon sea salt per pound of chicken). Season the thick sections a little more heavily than the skinny ankles and wings. Sprinkle a little of the salt just inside the cavity, on the backbone, but don't otherwise worry about seasoning the inside. Twist and tuck the wing tips behind the shoulders. Cover loosely and refrigerate.
• Starting the bread salad (up to several hours in advance):
• Preheat the broiler. Cut the bread into a couple of large chunks. Carve off all of the bottom crust and most of the top and side crust (reserve the top and side crusts to use as croûtons in salads or soups). Brush the bread all over with olive oil. Broil very briefly, to crisp and lightly color the surface. Turn the bread chunks over and crisp the other side. Trim off any badly charred tips, then tear the chunks into a combination of irregular 2- to 3-inch wads, bite-sized bits, and fat crumbs. You should get about 4 cups.
• Combine about 1/4 cup of the olive oil with the Champagne or white wine vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Toss about 1/4 cup of this tart vinaigrette with the torn bread in a wide salad bowl; the bread will be unevenly dressed. Taste one of the more saturated pieces. If it is bland, add a little salt and pepper and toss again. Place the currants in a small bowl and moisten with the red wine vinegar and warm water. Set aside.
• Roasting the chicken and assembling the salad:
• Preheat the oven to 475°F. (Depending on the size, efficiency, and accuracy of your oven, and the size of your bird, you may need to adjust the heat to as high as 500°F or as low as 450°F during the course of roasting the chicken to get it to brown properly. If that proves to be the case, begin at that temperature the next time you roast a chicken. If you have a convection function on your oven, use it for the first 30 minutes; it will enhance browning, and may reduce overall cooking time by 5 to 10 minutes.)
• Choose a shallow flameproof roasting pan or dish barely larger than the chicken, or use a 10-inch skillet with an all-metal handle. Preheat the pan over medium heat. Wipe the chicken dry and set it breast side up in the pan. It should sizzle. Place in the center of the oven and listen and watch for it to start sizzling and browning within 20 minutes. If it doesn't, raise the temperature progressively until it does. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce the temperature by 25 degrees. After about 30 minutes, turn the bird over (drying the bird and preheating the pan should keep the skin from sticking). Roast for another 10 to 20 minutes, depending on size, then flip back over to recrisp the breast skin, another 5 to 10 minutes. Total oven time will be 45 minutes to an hour.
• While the chicken is roasting, place the pine nuts in a small baking dish and set in the hot oven for a minute or two, just to warm through. Add them to the bowl of bread.
• Place a spoonful of the olive oil in a small skillet, add the garlic and scallions, and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until softened. Don't let them color. Scrape into the bread and fold to combine. Drain the plumped currants and fold in. Dribble the chicken stock or lightly salted water over the salad and fold again. Taste a few pieces of bread-a fairly saturated one and a dryish one. If it is bland, add salt, pepper, and/or a few drops of vinegar, then toss well. Since the basic character of bread salad depends on the bread you use, these adjustments can be essential. Pile the bread salad in a 1-quart baking dish and tent with foil; set the salad bowl aside. Place the salad in the oven after you flip the chicken the final time.
• Finishing and serving the chicken and bread salad:
• Remove the chicken from the oven and turn off the heat. Leave the bread salad to continue warming for another 5 minutes or so. Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a plate. Carefully pour the clear fat from the roasting pan, leaving the lean drippings behind. Add about a tablespoon of water to the hot pan and swirl it. Slash the stretched skin between the thighs and breasts of the chicken, then tilt the bird and plate over the roasting pan to drain the juice into the drippings. Set the chicken in a warm spot (which may be your stovetop), and leave to rest while you finish the bread salad. The meat will become more tender and uniformly succulent as it cools.
• Set a platter in the oven to warm for a minute or two. Tilt the roasting pan and skim the last of the fat. Place over medium-low heat, add any juice that has collected under the chicken, and bring to a simmer. Stir and scrape to soften any hard golden drippings. Taste-the juices will be extremely flavorful.
• Tip the bread salad into the salad bowl. (It will be steamy-hot, a mixture of soft, moist wads, crispy-on-the-outside-but-moist-in-the-middle wads, and a few downright crispy ones.) Drizzle and toss with a spoonful of the pan juices. Add the greens, a drizzle of vinaigrette, and fold well. Taste again.
• Cut the chicken into pieces, spread the bread salad on the warm platter, and nestle the chicken in the salad.