Chicken and Bread

I decided to roast a chicken for dinner on Saturday and wanted something a little different than our normal mashed potatoes and gravy.  I saw Ina Garten's recipe for roast chicken served on croutons and thought that might be a good idea, but I went a little further and roasted the bread cubes right in with the chicken. What resulted was a great roast chicken and almost a "stuffing" of soft and crunchy bread. The chicken juices bake right in to the bread...wonderful!!!

Prep your chicken in your favorite way...I rubbed mine with basil, oregano, garlic, lemon, salt, pepper, paprika and olive oil and then let it rest in the fridge for an hour or two.

For the croutons:
6 to 8 cups cubed bread (about 1 inch cubes) I used ciabatta bread
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp paprika
2 Tbl olive oil

Toss the bread cubes with the rest of the ingredients and place in a 9x13 inch shallow roasting pan or baking dish.
Place the prepped chicken on top of the bread cubes and then dot the chicken and the bread with 2 Tbl butter.
I had a 5.5 pound chicken so I roasted it at 325F for an hour and fifteen minutes and then raised the temperature to 375F and continued to roast for another hour and fifteen.  At the half way point, you'll notice the chicken juices forming at the bottom of the pan. Stir the bread cubes up a bit and baste the chicken with some of the juices.

Note: Photo didn't turn out well so look at my "lucky" chickens in my garden window!(LOL)