Zuni Roast Chicken Bread Salad with Pickled Grapes

Posted by Dacia on Mar 3, 2010 in Photos, Recipes, Successes | 1 comment

Stop the presses. Neko ate chicken! And not just a small bite out of obligation. She actually enjoyed this chicken, happily tossing it back and asking for more. This is the recipe that did it. It’s apparently the only chicken dish I can ever make again, as Eric has also declared it “The best roast chicken ever.” And I tend to agree. It is very good.

The Zuni Cafe is world famous, and although I’ve never had the pleasure of dining there, if this bread salad is any indication of what the food is like, then the place deserves heaps of praise.

My mom gave me a copy of this recipe a few years ago when I was working full time. As soon as I saw that it took some advance preparation, I put it on the shelf. In retrospect, that was silly. The advanced prep is quick and simple. But when I was an 8 to 5er, I found myself searching the Internet for “15 minute recipes” frequently, hoping to throw dinner together as quickly as possible each night.

Although you do need to prepare the chicken a day or two before you intend to cook it, the prep takes no time at all and the results are definitely worth it.

The bread salad that the chicken rests on top of is delicious but not essential. You could enjoy this roast chicken on its own with a side of roasted root vegetables or mashed potatoes.

The original recipe calls for currants, but my mom gave me the idea to try out Orangette’s pickled grapes in place of the currants. Again, not necessary, but something fun and different to try.

Neko loves pickles, so I had to give the grapes a go. And she enjoyed them. But she has my taste for sour things. She’s been known to drink straight vinegar and call it “juice.” And when we take her out for lunch at a Jewish deli, she’ll make an entire meal out of two or three giant kosher dills. More sweet-toothed kids may prefer the currants, which are certainly delicious themselves.

Zuni Roast Chicken Bread Salad
One small chicken, 2-3/4 to 3-1/2-pounds
4 tender sprigs fresh thyme, marjoram, rosemary or sage, about 1/2 inch long
Generous 8 ounces slightly stale open-crumbed, chewy, peasant-style bread (not sourdough)
6 Tbsp mild-tasting olive oil
1 -1/2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 Tbsp dried currants (or pickled grapes, recipe follows)
1 tsp red wine vinegar, or as needed
1 Tbsp warm water
2 Tbsp pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, slivered
A few handfuls arugula, frisée, or red mustard greens, carefully washed and dried

Seasoning the chicken
(Can be done 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 and herb sprig into each of the 4 pockets.
Season the chicken liberally all over with salt and pepper (¾ teaspoon of 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
(Can be done 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 croutons 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 or grapes 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.
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 the center of the oven and listen and watch for it to start browning within 20 minutes. If it doesn’t, raise the temperature to 500 degrees. The skin should blister, but if the chicken begins to char, or the fat is smoking, reduce 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 though. 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 the 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 of so.
Lift the chicken from the roasting pan and set on a plate. Carefully pour the clear fat from the roasting oven, 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 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.
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.

Pickled Grapes
(from Orangette)
1 lb red grapes, preferably seedless
1 cp white wine vinegar
1 cp granulated sugar
1½ tsp brown mustard seeds
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
1 (2 1/2-inch) cinnamon stick
¼ tsp salt

Rinse and dry the grapes, and pull them carefully from their stems. Using a small, sharp knife, trim away the “belly button” at the stem end of the grape, exposing a bit of the flesh inside. Put the grapes into a medium bowl, and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; then pour the mixture immediately over the grapes. Stir to combine. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
Pour the grapes and brine into jars with tight-fitting lids (or cover the bowl with plastic wrap), and chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Serve cold.