Full Table: Chicken Dinner
My take on the famous Zuni Roast Chicken, affectionately known as Chicken Dinner
If you have ever spent much time in San Francisco, or even if you haven’t but like delicious food, there is a good chance you are aware of Zuni Cafe’s Roast Chicken.
It is made to order - arriving to the table 45-60 minutes after ordering at minimum, so if you plan to have it (which I always do when there except lunch), you order it right as you sit down. In my case, likely when I am also ordering oysters and a martini to start. The dry-brined bird is salty and crispy and delicious, but the bread salad is perfection.
The recipe has been published in the Zuni Cafe cookbook and copiously shared online over the years, but I don’t buy that what is published is what is happening in that kitchen. The restaurant version is too good and like many restaurant-to-home kitchen dishes, we might be too scared to know the truth. Plus it has a lot more steps than I want at home.
So this is my version that gets it close, simply. It’s amazing, but you can’t be afraid of the schmaltz.
As discussed - these recipes are the friends & family version. Nothing is precise. :)
“Zuni” Roast Chicken & Bread Salad
Serves 4-6, ish.
If making for adults and kids, I often cook a few extra legs on the side.
If more for more adults, make more sides if you are okay with smaller chicken portions, or make a second chicken. Everything else scales very easily.
1 Whole Chicken, anything inside removed (smaller bird is better)
5 oz Arugula (a clamshell)
- Note, additional bitter greens are great here too - escarole, endive, mustard greens, raddicho, etc., but this is the simple version
Pine nuts (handful - 1/4 cup?)
Currants (little less than the pine nuts)
Country Bread - ciabatta or other not too crunchy/crusty, not sourdough
Chicken stock (homemade, frozen or Better Than Bouillon are my choices) - 1/2 cup to be safe, likely use less
Butter
Kosher salt - Diamond Crystal is gold standard in most professional & industry insider kitchens and my favorite for home cooking too
Shallot - 1-2
Dijon mustard - tablespoon or so
Vinegar - red wine, apple cider, or champagne
Honey - to taste, teaspoon
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper
—
Chicken
Pat the chicken super dry, salt very liberally outside, and season, but less liberally inside, ideally at least a few hours in advance, up to 2 days, and then place in fridge uncovered. Doing so the skin dries out a bit. If you don’t do in advance, that’s okay, but the chicken won’t be as flavorful & moist. (Zuni is 2-3 days in advance, I’m more often in the hours).
Bring the chicken out of the fridge 30-60 min before cooking so the chicken comes to room temp. Preheat oven to 450°F.
Pat chicken dry again, top with a few nobs of butter and a little more salt if it brushed off in drying. The butter might be excessive and for years I was salt only, but I do think it enhances flavor and color.
Roast 45-60 min until super golden and cooked through; don’t open oven at during those first 45 min, and try to open infrequently when checking after that. Let rest.
If the chicken doesn’t seem to be getting the color you want, crank the heat up to 475°F or 500°F, watching and bring back down as needed.
Bread Salad
Croutons: Cut bread in slices, but then just tear into bite sized pieces. This is key for more craggly edges. Toast/dry out in oven at 325°F until just golden, dry but not totally crunchy. You’ll want to do this before you put the chicken in the oven, and can even do earlier in the day or day before if you are looking to get ahead.
Salad Dressing: This will be pretty puckery to balance the rich croutons. Finely mince 1-2 shallots, put in a jar and add vinegar - cover the minced shallots at least, plus a bit more. Let sit at least 15 minutes so vinegar slightly pickles shallots and they mellow out before adding anything else. Then add bit of Dijon, honey, salt & pepper. Stir/shake in the jar, and slowly add a just a bit of olive oil, but not as much as regular salad dressing - but to help all come together. Can send be done in advance or just while chicken is in the oven.
I make small jar? Sorry for no measurements here.
Extras: Toast pine nuts in dry skillet until golden. Watch closely as they burn. Rehydrate currents in hot water plus splash of vinegar. Maybe similar amount as nuts.
When the chicken is cooked and golden brown, transfer to a cutting board, and let rest.
In the roasting pan, keep all the drippings, scraping up anything stuck to the bottom. Add the dry croutons and toss to coat in chicken drippings, again mixing and scraping up the bits on the bottom. Add some stock so it all feels like it has some liquid (fat or stock) - but not soaked, and some of the vinegary-dressing with the shallots. Toss once more so everything is distributed and all croutons have some of everything.
Put all back in oven for 5 min or so while chicken rests, and the croutons get extra golden while absorbing the drippings, stock and dressing; check/stir maybe once.
Taste a crouton - it should be soft and crunchy and super flavorful. Add more vinaigrette and/or cook longer as needed.
Carve the chicken. I like to start with legs and thighs, separate those, then wings, and then remove the breasts and cut in 2-3 smaller pieces.
Put greens in big bowl.
Add pine nuts & drained currants.
Add croutons - All good stuff should be absorbed in the bread,
Add a teeny little more dressing, for the extra punch.
Toss.
Top with carved chicken pieces or keep chicken on side.
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