Sunday Dinner

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Goat Cheese and Salami-Stuffed Dates

Butterflied Roast Chicken with Warm Bread and Arugula Salad

Tarte au Citron

This is a 3-C Sunday dinner: cheese, chicken, and chocolate citrus. Tonight, I will focus on sharing the middle C with you. Most of you know about my love for a good Roast Chicken, and this recipe definitely gets a 💗 vote from me. It was inspired by San Francisco's  Zuni Cafe's popular dish. I keep the overall salad components (chicken, bread, and arugula) the same, but I use my own vinaigrette recipe because that is how I like it.

Butterflying a chicken is a simple process.  You need a good pair of poultry shears to cut away the backbone (save the backbone for homemade stock) and a strong hand to press the breastbone when it is skin-side up. This flattens the breasts to the same thickness as the legs, allowing the chicken to roast in a shorter amount of time with even browning all over. 

The neat part about this recipe is that the bread pieces are placed under and around the chicken while it roasts.  This allows the bread to soak up all of those tasty chicken drippings. Once the chicken is done, the bread cubes will be somewhat crunchy but mostly warm and soft. As delicious as that is, I prefer a crunchier texture, so I place the cubes back into the oven while the chicken rests. I like to use my Homemade No-Knead Country Bread for the bread cubes, but any quality country bread will work well.

I must point out the method for the chicken.  It is a dry brine. That means the skin is gently separated from the meat and seasoned. The salt penetrates and tenderizes the dark and white meat, keeping it moist and juicy.  The skin, in return, stays nice and crispy. (I shared images of the skin separation process on a whole turkey in the first three step-by-step photos post HERE.)  It is preferable that the dry brining of the chicken be done 24 hours ahead, but if you are short on time, you will still get excellent results by dry brining the bird for at least 2 hours. 

I use baby arugula for the salad, and although it is widely available in the markets these days, you could substitute it with another sturdy green like Lacinato kale, curly kale, or even baby spinach. (Remember to massage the kale with the vinaigrette to soften the leaves!) They will all work nicely with the vinaigrette, a simple red wine vinaigrette flavored with garlic and shallot. However, I like to take the flavor profile of the vinaigrette to the next level by adding any accumulated chicken juices from the cutting board after it has rested. This is another winner-winner chicken dinner! Happy Sunday!

Printable Recipe

Butterflied Roast Chicken with Warm Bread and Arugula Salad

serves 4-6

For the Chicken 

1 (4-pound) whole chicken, giblets discarded

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 (1-inch-thick) slices country-style bread, homemade or store-bought (about 8-ounces), bottom crust removed, cut into 3/4 to 1-inch pieces (about 5 cups)

1/4 cup chicken stock, homemade or store-bought

2 Tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons Extra-Virgin olive oil

For the Vinaigrette

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 small garlic clove, finely grated on a microplane

1 small shallot, finely diced

1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup Extra-Virgin olive oil 

Plus, any accumulated juices from the chicken after it rests

1 (5-ounce) container of baby arugula

*Note: This dry-brine method requires refrigerating the seasoned chicken for at least 2 and up to 24 hours. 

For the Chicken

Place chicken, breast side down, on a cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut through bones on either side of the backbone; discard the backbone. Do not trim off any excess fat or skin. Flip chicken over and firmly press on the breastbone to flatten.

Using your fingers, carefully loosen skin covering breast and legs. Rub ½ teaspoon salt under skin of each breast, ½ teaspoon under skin of each leg, and 1 teaspoon salt onto bird's cavity. Tuck wings behind back and turn legs so drumsticks face inward toward breasts. Place chicken on wire rack set in a rimmed baking sheet or on a large plate and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours. Remove chicken from refrigerator 30 minutes before roasting.

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 475° F. Spray a 12-inch heavy-bottomed skillet with vegetable oil spray. Toss bread with stock and 2 tablespoons oil until pieces are evenly moistened. Arrange bread in skillet in single layer, with most of the crusted pieces near center, crust side up.

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place, skin side up, on top of bread. Brush 2 teaspoons oil over chicken skin and sprinkle with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast chicken until skin is deep golden brown and thickest part of breast registers 160° F and thighs register 175° F, 45 to 50 minutes, rotating skillet halfway through roasting.

For the Vinaigrette

While chicken roasts, whisk vinegar, mustard, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together in small bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil. Stir in diced shallots and garlic; set aside. Place arugula in large bowl.

Transfer chicken to a carving board (removing any bread from the underside of the chicken and returning to the skillet) and let rest, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Run a thin metal spatula under the bread to loosen from bottom of the skillet. (The bread should be a mix of softened, golden-brown, and crunchy pieces. If you like them more on the crunchier side, you can return them to the turned-off oven while the chicken rests.)  Carve chicken and whisk any accumulated juices into the vinaigrette. Add bread and vinaigrette to arugula and toss to evenly coat. Transfer salad to a serving platter and serve with chicken. Enjoy!

Source: Salad inspired by CI May/June 2018, Vinaigrette: The Galley Gourmet