INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients)
----------------------------------------------
Calories: 37
Calories From Fat: 12
Total Fat: 1.2g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 641.8mg
Potassium: 195.6mg
Carbohydrates: 1.8g
Fiber: <1g
Sugar: <1g
Protein: 4.3g