Roast Chicken with Lemon
Very easy preparation; very satisfactory result. A chicken, two lemons some salt & pepper and a hot oven. I mentioned this recipe to a friend. It has been a family favourite for many years, but she had never heard of Marcella. Perhaps this recipe, or quite similar ones, are quite well known. There was only one variation between my friend’s preparation and Marcella’s instructions. So it goes. (The last sentence is a literary reference. Anybody recognize it?)
An early direction has the bird breast-down in the pan. Then the chicken is turned over with the the encouragement to try not to puncture the skin. Unfortunately I was not able to accomplish this skill, so I didn’t get to see the chicken swell up like a balloon. Too bad, but it didn’t effect which was very good.
Another miscue on my part relates to the size of the lemons. They were too big for the cavity of the chicken. Next time I’ll use smaller lemons.
Not much to add. Hey, you stick a couple of lemons inside a chicken and put it in the over. Pretty simple and very good result.
What I liked about this recipe:
What’s not to like? A very simple and rewarding way to prepare a chicken.
What I didn’t like about this recipe:
Nothing. I’ll work on my bird-turning technique – gotta see the “balloon” effect.
Would I make it again?
Yes.
You’re quoting Vonnegut now? Is there no end to your talents?
Another example of how a few simple ingredients can lead to wonderful results!
What, no squid in the chicken cavity? 😉
I agree with your statement, “what’s not to like”. Your chicken looks delicious.
Bravo!
Doug, we did this one year with our thanksgiving turkey. More lemons of course. It was so wonderful.
Doug, I am not surprised that your friend was making my chicken without knowing whose recipe it originally was. Not too long ago I caught one of those TV cooks saying on the air that she had just returned from Paris where she had learned how to make my very same chicken. Lifting recipes and recycling them as one’s one is very common among cookbook writers. I have seen my recipes surface in other contexts, unattributed of course, more often than I could say. Since there is nothing I can do about it, I have no alternative but to accept it as flattery. Unremunerated, alas.
Incidentally, I don’t know what size bird you are using. When I originally published the recipe, some decades ago, you could find 2 1/2 pound chickens in the market. Today 3 1/2 pounds is considered small. Bigger chickens obviously take longer to cook.
I love this recipe. Isn’t the flavor of this dish amazing while using so few ingredients? It looks great Doug!
After reading and hearing so much about this recipe and its glorious results I’m going to try it today for lunch. I’ve got a chicken a little over a kilo and the lemons. I’ve been a Marcella fan for years and I can’t believe I’ve never tried this recipe. Hope I get the “puffy” chicken results.
Buon Anno, Marcella and Victor!
This was glorious! My chicken was just over a kilo so I only used one lemon. Used toothpicks to close it up and lightly tied the legs.
I cooked 20 minutes a pound @350 and another 20 min. @ 400 and it wasn’t dry at all. Although I didn’t get the puffy effect MH wrote about it was beautiful and I was really impressed with how the punctured lemon flavored the whole chicken.