Roast Chicken with Lemon

Total time: 80 minutes     only 10 minutes prep
     This is the easiest chicken recipe I have ever seen; and also one of the best.  The skin puffs up, away from the chicken which is rather interesting. The chicken  is moist, tender and lightly flavored with lemon.  The gravy is excellent!

 Ingredients:

• 1 whole roasting chicken, 1500gr, 4lb, 5oz
• 2 small lemons, preferably thin-skinned and juicy, 116gr, 4oz, (juice and pulp only)
• For a thicker sauce:
• 1 cup chicken stock, 225gr, 8oz
• 2 tbs cornstarch (maizena), 16gr, .6oz

 Instructions:

• Clean the chicken. 
• Roll the lemons on the counter with your hand a few times, pressing lightly.  With a toothpick prick the lemons all over, 20 - 25 times. 
• Put the lemons inside the chicken. 
• With kitchen string (or whatever) tie the legs together.  Twist the wing tips around so they are tucked under the back, supporting the chicken.  (If you don't do these last two it won't affect the recipe - only the appearance.) 
• Do not salt, butter, oil or anything else. 
• Put breast side down in a roasting pan and roast at 350F for 30 minutes.
• Turn the chicken over and roast for 30 minutes.
• Turn the oven to 400F and roast for 20 - 25 more minutes.  Skin should be golden brown and puffy. 
• Remove, let rest for 5 - 10 minutes, then carve and serve with pan juices. 
• For a thicker sauce/gravy:  Pour 1/2 cup chicken stock into the roasting pan.  Scrape up any brown bits and pour it all into a small saucepan. 
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. 
• Dissolve 1 tbs cornstarch in 1/2 cup chicken stock.  Slowly pour into saucepan, stirring until clear and thickened to your liking.  Serve with chicken.

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Nutrition Information               Recipe serves 4            Entire Recipe / per serving Calories:   3350 / 837.5 Total Carbohydrates:   26 / 6.5           Dietary Fiber:   4 / 1 Total Fat:   248 / 62          Saturated Fat:   68 / 17 Cholesterol:   1102 / 275.5 Protein:   261 / 65 Calcium:   193 / 48.5 Sodium:    1382 / 345

Please note:  This nutrition info is for 4 servings of both chicken and gravy.
You could use the leftover chicken in Chicken and Cauliflower Pasta

General Technical Details and Disclaimer:

Measurements are actual measurements used for calculation. If there are no values the nutritional numbers were simply too small.

I try to be accurate, but I do not guarantee it.  I use 'grams' as the unit of weight; with an approximate conversion to ounces.

My information comes from my own digital, computerized scale and the USDA Nutrient Data Library: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/