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By Ellen Cawood

I hope everyone had a wonderful Father’s Day weekend. My family and I truly enjoyed spending time celebrating my dad. His favorite thing to do is have an evening with family relaxing and cooking, so we did just that.

My stepmom found a new recipe for us to try that is certainly a new favorite for our family. This is a great meal if you want to feel gourmet on a budget, and I’m excited to share it with you.

Ingredients

• 1 (4 pound) whole chicken
• Kosher salt and pepper
• 5 cups of Italian loaf bread sliced into 1-inch cubes
• ¼ cup of chicken broth
• 7 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar
• 4 tablespoons of raisins
• 5 ounces of baby arugula

Instructions

1. Place chicken breast side down, on a cutting board. Using kitchen shears, cut through bones on either side of the backbone, and discard the backbone. Flip chicken over and press on breastbone to flatten.
2. Using your fingers, carefully loosen skin covering breast and leg. Rub ½ teaspoon of salt under the skin on each breast, ½ a teaspoon under each leg, and 1 teaspoon of salt in the cavity. Tuck wings and legs and place chicken on a wire rack on a baking sheet and refrigerate, uncovered, for 24 hours.
3. Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and head oven to 475 degrees. Spray a 12 inch cast iron skillet with vegetable oil spray. Cut bread into 1-inch cubes and toss with chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread bread in 1 even layer across the bottom of the cast iron pan.
4. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel and place skin side up on top of the bread. Brush skin with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper. Roast chicken until it is a deep golden brown or until the breast registered 160 degrees with a meat thermometer for approximately 50 minutes.
5. While chicken roasts, whisk together white wine vinegar, mustard, ¼ teaspoon of salt, ¼ teaspoon of pepper, ¼ cup of olive oil, and raisins and set aside. Place arugula in a large bowl.
6. Transfer chicken to a carving board once cooked and let rest, covered in foil, for 15 minutes. Run a spatula under the bread to loosen them from the pan. There should be a mixture of crunchy and moist pieces.
7. Carve chicken and mix any juices into the vinaigrette dressing. Add bread and dressing to arugula and toss until evenly coated.
8. Served with roasted chicken over the warm bread salad. It is truly sometime special.