Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons

Does your library offer Kanopy? It is a video streaming service that you can access with just a library card.

Every week, I get a newsletter that shows new or featured films.  Last week I watched the film Marcella. After watching, I had to try Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons.

I followed the recipe as it appeared in the New York Times.

My edits are as follows:

• I did not rinse the chicken. Your kitchen, your call.
• Use very small lemons. It's not easy putting 2 lemons in the chicken cavity.
• I did not truss up the opening after putting in the 2 lemons.
• My roast did not ballon up as mentioned in the recipe.

Even with my edits this was the best Roasted Chicken I have ever made. Moist and the flavor was perfect. Any recipe that only has 4 ingredients and tastes like this is going to be on repeat here.

Marcella Hazan’s Roast Chicken With Lemons
Ingredients-
3- to 4-pound chicken
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
2rather small lemons

Method-
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash the chicken thoroughly in cold water, both inside and out. 

1. Remove all the bits of fat hanging loose. 
   Let the bird sit on a slightly tilted plate for about 10 minutes to allow all the water to drain out. Pat it thoroughly dry all over with a 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 by placing 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 bird's cavity.
   
   Close up the opening with toothpicks or with a trussing needle and string.
   
   Close it well, but don't make an absolutely airtight job of it because the chicken may burst.
   
   Run a 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.
   
   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 thej juices over the chicken slices.
   
   The lemons will have shriveled up, but they still contain some juice; do not squeeze them, they may squirt.