Roast chicken and bread salad with sour cherries and roasted red onions

We love Zuni Café in San Francisco. Every time we go to San Francisco, I insist we ate at Zuni and order their Roast Chicken for Two. It never changes and it is fantastic. There are several versions of recipes of the dish that have been published and we have over the years tried them all at home. They all require you to roast the chicken outdoors on a grill.

We recently purchased a new cookbook, A Year In My Kitchen by Skye Gyngell, chef at Petersham Nurseries Cafe in London. The book had a recipe for Roast Chicken and Bread Salad with Sour Cherries and Roasted Red Onions that read to us as very much like the Zuni Chicken but with two distinct differences:


1. It is cooked in the oven - rather than on a grill outdoors
2. It has many more layers of flavors


It was like the Zuni Chicken re-imagined and tarted up. We decided to make it. Bottom line: We really liked it and will make it again. It doesn’t have the rustic feeling of the Zuni Chicken but rather has the complexity of its sophisticated big city older brother: more complex, less earthy and exciting. We recommend this dish. It isn’t hard to make but definitely takes a lot of preparation.

Roast Chicken And Bread Salad With Sour Cherries And Roasted Red Onions

A Year In My Kitchen

Skye Gyngell

I love torn bread salads—the trick is to combine the salad while the bread is still warm, so it can absorb and take on all the flavors. Here, a freshly cooked bird with real flavor is essential—last night's roast chicken will not do. You can replace the chicken with finely sliced prosciutto or, for a meat-free version, lace the bread generously with sweet broiled red bell peppers and black olives.

Serves 4 to 6

Roast chicken

1          small organic chicken, about 3 pounds

1          lemon, halved

small bunch of thyme

bay leaves

small bunch of parsley 5 cloves garlic, halved

1          dried red chile, crumbled

olive oil, to drizzle

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Salad

2          tbsp dried sour cherries
(or cranberries or raisins)

1          loaf of 1-day-old chewy peasant-style bread

about 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3      cup Roasted Red Onions

1 tbsp salted cappers, rinsed

1          tbsp minced preserved lemon

2          tbsp saba or good-quality balsamic vinegar

large handful of arugula leaves

2 or 3 tbsp Basil Oil

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 425°F (convection oven to 400°F). Rinse the chicken inside and out and remove the little fat deposits just inside the cavity. Pat dry. Put one lemon half into the cavity along with the thyme, bay leaves, parsley, garlic, and dried chile. Squeeze the juice from the other lemon half over the chicken skin, then drizzle with olive oil, massaging it into the skin with your fingers. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast for 15 minutes, then lower the oven setting to 375F (convection oven to 350°F) and roast until cooked through, 35 to 45 minutes. To test, pierce the thickest part of the thigh with a skewer—the juices should run clear. Let rest in a warm place until cool enough to handle. Pour off the fat from the roasting pan, saving the juices. Leave the oven on.

For the salad, soak the sour cherries in warm water to cover for 10 minutes. Cut the loaf in half lengthwise and tear with your hands into pieces, roughly 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches square. Spread the bread pieces out on a baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbsp of the olive oil. Bake in the oven until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Tip the bread into a large salad bowl. While it is still warm, drizzle over the remaining olive oil, adjusting the quantity as necessary— the bread should not feel dry. Add the roasted red onions, capers, preserved lemon, and saba or balsamic vinegar. Toss together with your hands. Drain the cherries and pat dry, then add to the salad.

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, tear the flesh off the bones and cut into bite-size pieces. Add to the salad and drizzle over the roasting juices. Toss the chicken through, then add the arugula and toss again. Check the seasoning.

Pile the salad into a serving dish, drizzle over the basil oil, and sprinkle with lemon zest. Serve straight away, while still just warm.

Roasted Red Onions

These beautiful, deep-purple rings lend a superb depth of flavor and color to many cold dishes. Their sharp and sweetness sits somewhere in the middle of the scale.

For the roasted onions

5 medium red onions, peeled

½ cup superfine sugar

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

generous ¾ cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375°F (convection oven to 350°F). Slice the onions into pinwheels, about 1/8 inch thick, and spread out on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle with the sugar and a generous pinch each of salt and pepper. Pour over the balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix together lightly with your hands. Roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, turning them (with tongs or a wooden spoon) and basting halfway through cooking. When the onions are ready, they should be deep purple in color and glistening, tasting sweet and sharp at the same time.

Basil Oil

This sludgy, verdant sauce lends a vibrancy to many of the dishes that I cook. Its flavor is clean and punchy and it works almost as a cleanser with many dishes, making the ingredients sing. It is definitely a pure, clan note toward the top of the scale.

For the Basil Oil

3 large bunches of basil

1 clove garlic, peeled

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

generous ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil

Pull the basil leaves from their stalks and put them in a food processor with the garlic and a good pinch each of salt and pepper.

Process until the basil is minced. With the motor running, slowly trickle in the olive oil through the feed tube and continue to blend until you have a beautiful moss green puree. Let stand for a few minutes, then taste adjust the seasoning.

Pour in a jar, cover, and refrigerate until ready to use. This basil oil will keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week.