You will make this again and again. No reason a special dinner...and a special night...should only come once a year.
Stuffing a chicken with whole lemons and covering the skin with lemon juice and coarse salt makes the most delicious roasted chicken.
Turning the chicken midway through cooking keeps the breast juicy.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Wash and dry the chicken well. Pour the lemon juice over the chicken, both inside and out. Salt and pepper the chicken inside and out.
3. Prick 2 whole lemons 3-6 times each in different places with a fork and place deep inside the cavity of the chicken. Place chicken breast side down in a roasting pan fitted with a rack.
4. Put the chicken in the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees and roast uncovered for 45 minutes.
5. Remove and turn breast side up. Roast an additional 75-90 minutes until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees when placed in the thigh and the juices run clear when the thigh is pricked with a fork. There is too much variation in oven temperatures, chicken sizes, pan thickness, etc. to be exact with time when cooking chicken...so use the thermometer temperature.
6. Let the chicken cool 10 minutes before carving. Pour the juices from the roasting pan on top of the sliced chicken. Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon slices.
A special recipe for potatoes is de rigueur in your collection of Valentine Dinner Recipes.
You can make these potatoes separately or place in the roasting pan around the chicken.
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly spray a large shallow baking dish (Pyrex works well) with non-stick spray.
3. Scrub potatoes and cut large ones in half length wise.
4. Spray the potatoes generously with the butter spray. Sprinkle with the herbes, salt and pepper.
5. Place potatoes in shallow baking dish with sliced ones skin side down. Space them out so they aren't piled up on top of each other.
6. Roast the potatoes until they are tender and golden, turning them occasionally with tongs, 25-60 minutes. There is too much variation on the size of potatoes and oven temperatures to be exact on the time. Just roast them until they are tender when stuck with a fork.
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