A Small, Good Thing

In this post, I share a guide to making Zuni Cafe's roast chicken at home

During the pandemic, my fiction reading list included the short stories and poems of Raymond Carver. His story A Small, Good Thing begins with a tragic death and finishes in a bakery, where a grouchy baker consoles two grieving parents with freshly baked rolls.

"You probably need to eat something," the baker said. "I hope you'll eat some of my hot rolls. You have to eat and keep going. Eating is a small, good thing in a time like this," he said.

Roast chicken was my small, good thing during the pandemic.

The version I taught myself during the pandemic is served at San Francisco’s legendary Zuni Cafe and was created by the late Judy Rodgers - herself a former sous chef for Alice Waters in Berkeley.

It’s deceptively simple: a well-salted roast chicken with crispy skin is paired with a warm bread salad with crispy croutons roasted in chicken fat.

Here’s what it looks like at Zuni.

Here’s what my version looks like at home.

As Julia Child said, properly roasting a chicken is the classic test of a cook or chef. Few things make your kitchen smell better. Here’s how to make it (links to recipes and video tutorials below at the end).

Spatchcock a small chicken (2.75 lbs. to 3.25 lbs is the ideal weight, you may have to call around to find a chicken this small). Dry brine the chicken. This means heavily salt, maybe sprinkle on some MSG if you’re curious (I always do), and leave uncovered and spread flat in a fridge or cool place so the salt permeates and the skin dries. Pat the chicken’s skin dry with paper towels several times while it is dry brining. The key to unlocking crispy skin without overcooking is to make sure the chicken’s skin is very dry when placed in the oven.

Place the chicken on top of bread cubes that have been tossed with olive oil, chicken stock, salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, currants, and pine nuts. Any good country bread will do, I use Tartine here in San Francisco. You’ll want to cover any exposed bread cubes with aluminum foil so they don’t burn in a hot oven.

Then, roast the chicken and bread cubes at high heat (450 - 475 F, although you made need to adjust a bit depending on your specific oven and your chicken size) for 50 minutes to one hour. Turning on the convection will help crisp the skin.

Take the chicken out when its skin is crispy all the way around. I let the chicken rest for 10-15 minutes on a cutting board.  Here’s what mine looked like last night just after it came out of the oven.  It’s important to let your chicken rest just like you’d rest a steak, so that all the juices redistribute.

While the chicken is resting, I add a handful of extra pine nuts and currants to the skillet and toss/scrape off the bread crumbs.  Some of them will be soggy from being directly under the chicken and they should have a rich crust from the skillet.  I put the bread cubes back in the oven for another 10 minutes or so to heat the pine nuts and currants through and crisp up the soggy bits. You want the croutons crunchy, but not burnt.  

I assemble and dress a salad (arugula, pea shoots, maybe some microgreens if you’re feeling fancy) in a simple Dijon vinaigrette (homemade or store bought is fine). Then, toss the crispy bread cubes and pine nuts with some chopped scallions.  Cut up your rested chicken into pieces and place on top of the salad.  Here’s what it looks like carved up and about to be served on a platter.

A good meat thermometer is handy for roasting chicken if you’re nervous or squeamish about undercooked meat.  For this recipe, I personally prefer a slightly overcooked chicken if needed in exchange for plenty of crispy, crunchy skin.  Because it’s a quick roast (50 minutes to 1 hour) with the resting period also helping to finish cooking, I never use a thermometer unless I am forced to work with a larger size chicken.  

If you are feeding a bigger crowd, don’t get a bigger chicken; roast a second small one and use a cookie sheet or second skillet in the oven.  You may want to rotate your skillet by 90 to 180 degrees every 20 minutes or so (or turn on the convection) for an evenly crisped skin.

Zuni doesn’t serve their chicken with a sauce, but a great sauce brings the whole dish together, I think. Because the chicken is roasted on top of the bread, you won’t have the normal pan juices to work with for a gravy or sauce.

I start a day or two ahead of time for a sauce, separately roasting the leftover chicken backs/wing tips/giblets with a mirepoix, lots of wine (marsala is great), and make a sauce with the liquid proceeds of this process.  Sometimes I’ll simmer cutoff or discarded bread crusts in the mix for extra richness and flavor, like a classic bread sauce. Don’t forget to add a healthy pour of cream at the end.

An America’s Test Kitchen video of how to make this is here.

A classic recipe is here: note, the New York Times doesn’t call for spatchcocking, ignore them.

More from Serious Eats on about dry brining and spatch-cocking is here and here.

Bon Appetit!