Brick Chicken with Root Vegetable Bread Salad

Gerard Craft | Executive Chef, Niche

3 Boneless Chickens, Split, With Skin On

Salt & Pepper to taste

3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

¼ C water

2 Tablespoons butter

Croutons 



1 teaspoon chopped thyme


1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

6 C Companions bread diced

6 tablespoons micro planed Parmesan

Salt & Pepper to taste

¼ C Olive Oil

Vegetables

1 small red onion thinly sliced


3 Tablespoons sherry vinegar


2 C butternut squash diced

2 C celery root diced

2 C Rutabaga diced

¼ C pine nuts toasted

¼ C currants (plumped in a small amount of warm water)

3 Heads of frisee with green tops trimmed and broken into leaves

1/2 C olive oil plus extra for roasting the vegetables

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh sage


Salt & Pepper to taste


In a bowl toss the squash, celery root, and rutabaga with enough oil to coat. Season the vegetables with salt and chopped sage and place in one layer on a sheet pan. Place vegetables in a 400º convection oven and roast until just tender, about 10 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Toss the Companion Pain Beaucaire in a bowl with the olive oil, thyme, rosemary, Parmesan, and salt and pepper. Lay the bread on a sheet pan in one layer and place in a 400º until toasted on one side, then flip to toast on the other side (about 8 minutes per side). Remove and let cool.

Soak red onions in the sherry vinegar until they seem tender. Remove and whisk the olive oil and mustard into the sherry vinegar and season with salt and pepper as needed.

Season chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. In a heavy pan heat vegetable oil until barely smoking, add the chicken skin side down and place another heavy pan on top of the chicken and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, being careful not to burn, until the skin is looking very crispy. Remove the top pan and place the chicken in the 400º oven until it reaches 150º internal temperature. Remove chicken from oven and flip over so the skin side is up and place back on the medium burner. Add water and butter to the pan and simmer until the chicken reaches 160º, about 2-3 minutes.

Place all of the vegetables, croutons, frisee, nuts, currants, onion, and three tablespoons of the vinaigrette in a large bowl and toss. Season this with salt and pepper. Pour in the butter from the chicken pan and toss. Add more vinaigrette to taste. Divide the salad onto 6 plates and lay the half chickens skin side up on top.

Feeds 6