Rustic Chicken Bread Salad Recipes

RUSTIC CHICKEN SALAD

Steps:

• 1. Place 4 quarts of water in a large pot. Add the onion, celery, carrots, parsley, bay leaves, salt, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 15 minutes.
• 2. Add the chicken; return to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer for 15 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from the liquid and cool to room temperature. Remove the skin.
• 3. Shred the chicken into large pieces. Place in a large bowl.
• 4. Trim the fennel bulbs and slice lengthwise into strips 1/4-inch wide. Add to chicken with the green beans, tomatoes, capers, olives, parley, and chopped fennel ferns.
• 5. Season with salt and pepper. Shortly before serving, toss with the vinaigrette to prevent the greens from discoloring.

ROASTED-CHICKEN BREAD SALAD WITH PEAS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Let chicken stand at room temperature 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in separate batches, blanch fresh peas and snap peas (or just snap peas, if using frozen green peas) in a medium pot of salted boiling water until bright green and just tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to an ice-water bath; let cool completely. Drain. Slice snap peas in half on the bias.
• Pat chicken dry and transfer to a large ovenproof skillet. Rub all over with 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is golden and a thermometer inserted into thigh (avoiding bone) registers 160 degrees, about 45 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 10 minutes before carving. Loosely tent with foil to keep warm.
• Skim fat from skillet; discard. Whisk lemon juice and 1/4 cup oil into skillet, then season with salt and pepper.
• Heat broiler. Arrange bread on a rimmed baking sheet and toss with remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and pepper. Broil, tossing occasionally, until toasted, about 2 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine toasted bread with both peas. Drizzle with lemon dressing and toss to coat. Arrange bread salad on a platter and top with chicken and pea shoots; serve.

RUSTIC CHICKEN BREAD SALAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• Spread bread cubes in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Bake 5 minutes; stir.
• Continue baking 3 to 5 minutes or until toasted.
• Cool.
• Whisk vinegar with garlic, salt and pepper, then add olive oil.
• Core tomatoes; cut lengthwise down the centre into bite-sized wedges.
• Place in a large salad bowl suitable for tossing.
• Cut red onion into rings and add to tomatoes along with olives and basil.
• Whisk dressing; pour over tomato mixture.
• Stir gently from bottom until well mixed.
• Leave at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until ready to use.
• When read to serve, add cooled bread cubes and chicken to tomato mixture; gently toss.
• Serve right away garnished with Parmesan cheese.

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.