It’s st
arting to look a lot like summer! White wines are very popular right now, and my job was to make something to pair with Cameron Hughes Lot series #212, a Carneros Chardonnay.
For the shoot I decided to make my version of roast chicken and bread salad you would find at Zuni, a very popular SF restaurant. I first brined the chicken overnight in a very simple brine of water, sea salt, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and bay leaves. The brining adds such great moisture and flavor to the chicken. I highly recommend doing this with any roast chicken, or pork. The chicken was then rubbed with an herb butter (butter, salt, paprika, white pepper, chopped parsley) and prepped for the oven. The twist on this recipe is that the chicken is then roasted on top of the bread for the bread salad. Its ripped and placed into a pyrex baking dish, lightly oiled and salted. The chicken, depending on the cuts, is then placed on top of a few slices of citrus which is then placed directly on top of the bread.
In the 375* oven for about 45 min, the bread will absorb all of the delicious juices from the chicken and produce an amazing tasting bread salad. Finishing the bread salad off with a simple balsamic vinaigrette and some dried currents and chopped parsley puts it over the top.
The shoot was great. Jake did a fabulous job and everything looked just as it would on the Food Network. Enjoy the shots and go visit www.chwine.com and check out some wine!!
Preheat oven to 375* Herb Butter: This is used to coat the chicken before the oven. Combine butter, salt, paprika, white pepper and 2 tbsp of olive oil into a bowl. Mix well and let soften. Add a handful of chopped parsley and mix well. In a baking dish, place torn pieces of ciabatta so it covers all surface area. Take your citrus slices and place them in the cavity of the chicken, bone side. This then goes right on top of the bread. In the baking dish it should layer bread, citrus, then chicken. Take the herb butter that was made earlier and rub the top of the chicken liberally, as well as underneath the skin. This goes into an oven at 375* for 45min to an hour. Once cooked, remove the chicken and set aside. Take the cooked bread and transfer to a large bowl. Add currants, the rest of the chopped parsley and balsamic vinaigrette and toss. Serve with the chicken. Warm all ingredients in a pan on the stove until salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove and let cool. In a sealable container, add chicken to the brine and let sit over night or up to 24 hours.
