My Parmesan Chicken Salad

Croutons that will change you

We all love a crunch! Quite possibly the best of all the textures when it comes to food. However, croutons shouldn’t just be a crunch - they should be an explosion of flavour when crunched. These croutons are just that. They’re like little crunchy bombs that let off the same flavours as a roast chicken. They’re so good that you have to hide them once they’re cooked, because once you have one, you’ll NEED another, and so on, until you realise you have to make more because you don’t have enough for the salad.

I tried something new with this one - something I should have definitely tried earlier but never got round to doing. I tried a proper free-range chicken, one whose fat has a mellow yellow colouring, skinny breasts and thick thighs. It cost me £7.50 for a 2.2kg bird, only around £2 more than a standard whole chicken. Other than its noticeable visual differences, I had no idea what it would be like taste-wise. There were a few main differences I need to share with you.

Number One - I’ve never had a roast chicken with crispier skin in my life! I noticed the skin was visibly thicker, which, when roasted, rendered out the fat and left a thick, juicy, golden, crunchy skin that just can’t be replicated with a normal chicken.

Number Two - there was a little less meat on the breasts, however the thighs and legs have more meat, and overall the meat was a lot juicier than a standard roast chicken.

You see, because the bird has a longer life and a better diet of corn-based foods rather than soy-based ones, it gains more fat between the skin and muscle, leaving you with a softer, moister chicken when that fat renders and bastes the meat from the inside as it roasts. It’s kind of the exact same reason why thighs are juicier in general.

All in all, I would say that if I’m ever going to eat a roast chicken, I would not hesitate in picking the more expensive free-range bird. However, if I’m not eating the chicken as a roast and I’m shredding the meat instead, I have no issue using the normal bird, as it eats just the same in this case.