Roast Chicken with Two Lemons

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. Remove
all the bits of fat hanging loose. Let the bird sit for about 10 minutes on
a slightly tilted plate to let all the water drain out of it. Pat it
thoroughly dry all over with cloth or paper towels.
3. Sprinkle a generous amount of salt and black pepper on the chicken,
rubbing it with your fingers over all its body and into its cavity.
4. Wash the lemons in cold water and dry them with a towel. Soften each
lemon byplacing it on a counter and rolling it back and forth as you put
firm downward pressure on it with the palm of your hand. Puncture the
lemons in at least 20 places each, using a sturdy round toothpick, a
trussing needle, a sharp-pointed fork, or similar implement.
5. Place both lemons in the birds cavity. Close up the opening with
toothpicks or with trussing needle and string. Close it well, but don't
make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst. Run
kitchen string from one leg to the other, tying it at both knuckle ends.
Leave the legs in their natural position without pulling them tight. If the
skin is unbroken, the chicken will puff up as it cooks, and the string
serves only to keep the thighs from spreading apart and splitting the skin.
6. Put the chicken into a roasting pan, breast facing down. Do not add
cooking fat of any kind. This bird is self-basting, so you need not fear it
will stick to the pan. Place it in the upper third of the preheated oven.
After 30 minutes, turn the chicken over to have the breast face up. When
turning it, try not to puncture the skin. If kept intact, the chicken will
swell like a balloon, which makes for an arresting presentation at the
table later. Do not worry too much about it, however, because even if it
fails to swell, the flavor will not be affected.
7. Cook for another 30 to 35 minutes, then turn the oven thermostat up to
400 degrees, and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Calculate between 20
and 25 minutes total cooking time for each pound. There is no need to turn
the chicken again. 8. Whether your bird has puffed up or not, bring it to
the table whole and leave the lemons inside until it is carved and opened.
The juices that run out are perfectly delicious. Be sure to spoon them over
the chicken slices. The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still
contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.
NOTES : No-fuss roast chicken by Marcella Hazan If this were a still life
its title could be "Chicken with Two Lemons." That is all that there is in
it. No fat to cook with, no basting to do, no stuffing to prepare, no
condiments except for salt and pepper. After you put the chicken in the
oven you turn it just once. The bird, its two lemons, and the oven do all
the rest. Again and again, through the years, I met people who come up to
me to say, "I have made your chicken with two lemons and it is the most
amazingly simple recipe, the juiciest, best-tasting chicken I have ever
had." And you know, it is perfectly true.
Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #1034 by -- Mom <clubok@nersp.nerdc.ufl.edu>
on Jan 23, 1998

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