Roast Chicken with Rosemary-Lemon Salt

By kathryns

this recipe is for two chickens. One whole chicken serves four for dinner; the second yields enough to make two additional meals. It calls for air-drying the chickens in the refrigerator overnight.

Ingredients

• 2 medium lemons
• 2 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 Tbs. chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 2 4-lb. chickens, giblets and excess fat discarded
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Details

Servings 6
Preparation time 25mins
Cooking time 1600mins
Adapted from finecooking.com

Preparation

Step 1

Finely grate the zest from the lemons. In a food processor or mini chopper, combine the zest with the 2 Tbs. salt, the rosemary, and black pepper. Pulse several times to combine.

Sprinkle each chicken with this salt mixture both inside and outside the cavity and between the skin and the breast meat (use your fingers to gently open up a pocket between the two). Cut 1 of the lemons in half and stuff a half in the cavity of each bird.

Reserve the remaining lemon for another use. Set the chickens on a wire rack atop a rimmed baking sheet, and refrigerate uncovered for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.

About 30 minutes before you're ready to roast the chickens, set an oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 425°F. Take the chickens out of the refrigerator and brush the butter uniformly over the skin. Sprinkle each chicken with 1/2 tsp. salt.

Set each chicken, breast side up, on 1 or 2 racks (preferably a non-adjustable V-rack) in a large roasting pan. Let the chickens rest at room temperature while the oven heats.