Roast Chicken with Two Lemons
rec.food.cooking/Nona Myers (1997)

A few years ago I came across a recipe posted by Marcella Hazan in Food and Wine describing a perfect roast chicken - no butter, no oil, no herbs, just two lemons. I was intrigued. I've roasted chicken with all combination of herbs, spices, oils, vinegars, and sauces and I was never satisfied with the results. That is, until I tried her method. It is simply wonderful.

During cooking, the chicken puffs up like a balloon, almost separating the skin from the flesh, making the outer skin very crisp, but very moist and juicy under the skin. It has something to do with placing lemons in the cavity.

I did add one additional ingredient to the original recipe - a few cloves of garlic along with lemons inside the cavity. I just never tasted a more crispy outside/juicy inside chicken. You gotta try this one. Do not add any fat, it is self-basting.

A 3 to 4 lb chicken
Salt and ground pepper
2 smallish, thin skinned lemons, washed well and dried
2 to 3 cloves garlic

Preheat oven to 350. Thoroughly wash the chicken. Let the bird stand on a slightly tilted plate for about 10 minutes so that all the water drains out. Dry all over.

Season the chicken inside and out with salt and pepper; rub in the seasonings.

Set the lemons on a counter and roll them back and forth, pressing with your palm. Puncture each lemons in at least 20 places.

Place both lemons and garlic cloves in the cavity. Seal the opening with toothpicks; close well, but don't make an airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run kitchen string from one leg to the other and tie it at the knuckle ends; the string serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.

Set the chicken breast down in a roasting pan. Place it in the upper third of the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Carefully turn the chicken over onto its back and cook for another 30 to 35 minutes.

Turn the oven up to 400 F and cook for additional 20 minutes. (Calculate between 20 and 25 minutes total cooking time per pound.)

Spoon the juices over the chicken and serve. A perfect roast chicken.