Chicken With Two Lemons

This dish is one of the most simple, but most loved meals that I cook.  My family goes ga ga over this dish!  There are only 4 ingredients to this entree.  It is a dish that focuses on bringing out the flavor of the main ingredient, a whole chicken.  This dish is so simple, yet so tasty!  It is simply one whole chicken, two lemons, salt and pepper.  That's it!  It's simple, Italian, cooking.  There is no added fat, no basting, no injecting.  It's classic Italian cooking at it's best!  This was adapted a recipe from the Marcella Hazan book, Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (a must have cookbook).

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
2 whole lemons
Salt and Pepper

Optional Side dish:
4 to 6 Red Potatoes
1 small bag of baby carrots
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Wash the chicken under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.  Place the chicken on a plate to dry for 10 minutes.  If possible, tilt the plate so that the juices can run out of the chicken and into a plate or bowl.  Meanwhile, roll the lemons using your hand or a rolling pen on a cutting board or another clean hard surface, to release the juices of the lemon.  Punch 20 holes in each lemon using a small knife or preferably a trussing needle.

After the chicken dries for 10 minutes, place the lemons in the cavity of the chicken.  Using a trussing needle, and butchers string or toothpicks, sew the opening of the chicken so that the chicken opening is closed but not air tight.  Tie the two legs together with butchers string so that the legs are in a natural position (not touching).  This is to prevent the skin from tearing.  Sprinkle the exterior of the chicken with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.

Place the chicken in a roasting pan with the rack, breast side down for about 30 minutes.  Flip the chicken being careful to not tear the skin while flipping.  Then cook the chicken for another 30 minutes or more at 350 degrees, depending on the weight of your chicken.  Once the chicken has been flipped, there is no need to flip it again.  For the last 20 minutes of cooking turn the oven up to 400 degrees.   The chicken should be cooked for between 20 and 25 minutes per pound (total cooking time).  During cooking, it should "blow up" like a balloon.  Not to worry, it's supposed to do this!  It looks amazing when taken out of the oven.  You can see the juices boiling under the crispy skin! 

Optional Side Dish (cook this in the lower oven rack while the chicken cooks):

Wash and cut the potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes.  Place the potatoes and carrots in a mixing bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss until well coated.  Place the veggies in a casserole and bake for the last 1 hour that the chicken is cooking or until the potatoes are slightly browned and the carrots are cooked through.

Peas, butter, salt and pepper would also be a great accoutrement to this main course. 

I hope that you and your company enjoy this dish as much as my family does!  The kids devoured the chicken and the veggies which does not happen very often!  This is one of the most simple recipes you will ever cook but it will give you the most moist, flavorful chicken you will ever eat!  Enjoy!