MARYANNE'S ROASTED WHOLE CHICKEN WITH LEMON AND HERBS* 1 organic chicken from Hemlock Hills Farm (approx 4 lbs) Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If using your gas grill, use the indirect method of heating the grill: leaving the center area with no heat, heating only the sides. Rinse and pat dry the chicken, and remove the neck from the internal cavity. With a potato peeler, remove all the skin off the lemons, making sure to avoid the white pith. Size of the peels doesn’t matter. To be able to get under the skin of each breast, cut little holes in the membrane between the skin and the meat. Run your finger along the breast inside each hole, to separate the skin from the breast meat as much as possible. To flavor the breast meat, first run some herb mixture under the skin on each side. Follow by inserting the lemon rind pieces, laying flat on the meat, as many as you like. This adds the most delicious, lemony flavor to the meat. To get under the skin of the legs, cut a small slit in the skin, near the backbone. Repeat the process of rubbing herbs directly on the meat, and adding the lemon rinds. Turn chicken breast-side up. Squeeze the juice from the lemons all over the outside of the chicken. Sprinkle to skin all over with the herb mix. Toss the used lemons in the cavity, for added internal flavor. Find a suitable size pan (not glass), and something else to rest below the chicken so that it doesn’t have to touch the bottom of the pan (like a cooling rack). Spray the pan so it’s easier to clean later. Put the chicken in the pan, then in the oven or barbeque. Roast at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower heat to 375 and continue to cook until the internal temp of the leg meat is 175 degrees, approximately 50 mins - 1 hour longer. This is Maryanne’s favorite roasted chicken!
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