Fiesta Friday #116

This roast chicken gets a triple dose of lemon from preserved lemons (or Meyer lemon Aigre-doux), fresh lemons, and a spicy lemon pickle relish.

There isn’t much to say about this recipe except it is easy, wonderfully flavorful, spring-like, company worthy, and beautiful. Roast some asparagus in the oven for the last 15 minutes. Or, toss together a salad and you have a fantastic dinner with very little effort on your part. The quick lemon pickle I served with it is delicious (I will post the recipe soon), but a few wedges of fresh lemon on the side would work just as well.

Lemon Rosemary Roast Chicken

If your oven is on to cook one chicken, you may as well cook two. Rotisserie or roast chickens are amazingly versatile and lend themselves to wonderful leftovers. All too often, the ones from the supermarket are injected with ingredients that you don’t need to eat. This recipe is for one chicken, but easily doubled for two.

Ingredients

1 whole chicken – at least 4 pounds and preferably organic
1 preserved lemon or 1 lemon from Meyer lemon Aigre-doux
1 fresh lemon, washed and halved
2 large sprigs of fresh rosemary, 1 whole and 1 minced
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temperature
a dozen baby potatoes – yellow finn or red

Method

Dry the chicken and remove the package of giblets, I keep a large ziplock bag in the freezer for such things. When I have enough (that is usually when I can’t close the freezer door anymore), I make stock.
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
Place the potatoes in the bottom of a large roasting pan. You can either roast the chicken on a rack over the potatoes or place it directly on top.
Place the cut and halved lemon and 1 whole sprig of rosemary inside the chicken.
Remove the pulp from the preserved lemon or lemon Aigre-doux, rinse briefly, then mince and mix into the softened butter, add the minced rosemary and mix together. I found it easier to do this with my hands.
Rub the outside of the chicken with the butter mixture, pushing some under the skin and over the meat of the breast.
Turn it breast side down and roast for 25 minutes.
After 25 minutes, carefully turn the chicken (give the potatoes a toss) breast side up and return to the oven for another 35 minutes.
Check to see if the chicken is done, juices should run clear and an instant read thermometer read 160 degrees F when stuck in the thickest part of the thigh. Put it back in the oven if needed but check frequently to see it doesn’t overcook.
Lemon and Rosemary Chicken
Remove the chickens from the oven and let cool for at least 10 minutes to let the juices settle before carving.
Check the potatoes, depending on size they may need to go back into the oven for 10-15 minutes to finish cooking and browning.

The potatoes were basted with the dripping juices from the chicken as it cooked. Wonderful!

Roast Potatoes

Lemon Rosemary Chicken with Quick Lemon Pickle

A glass of champagne is the perfect accompaniment.

I’m taking this to share at Angie’s Fiesta Friday. Come join us at Fiesta Friday #116 by adding your link to FiestaFriday.net and the co-hosts’ blogs. The co-hosts this week are Judi @ cookingwithauntjuju and Cynthia @ eatmunchlove

Meyer Lemons

An abundant harvest of Meyer lemons from my backyard tree has me searching for ways to preserve them before they drop to the ground. So far I have made Meyer Lemon Aigre-Doux, salted preserved lemons, quick lemon pickle from Madhur Jaffrey’s book World Vegetarian, lemon pickle with Indian 5-spices from the blog Tigress in a pickle, and now Meyer lemon marmalade. There are still several dozen on the tree and I see another batch or two of this marmalade in my near future. This was my first experience with marmalade and it is delicious, with the added bonus of being easy.

Meyer Lemon Marmalade

My recipe came from an issue of Gourmet, December 1999.

Yield 6 (1/2 pint) jars

Ingredients

6 organic Meyer lemons, washed and dried
4 cups of water
4 cups of sugar

Equipment

6 (1/2 pint) Mason type jars, sterilized
Rings and tops, heated in hot water
Cheesecloth
Kitchen string
Hot water canner

Preparation

Cut a large square of cheesecloth and have some kitchen string at the ready. Halve the lemons crosswise and remove the seeds, saving them on the cheesecloth. The seeds will release natural pectin to thicken the marmalade.
Thinly slice each lemon half, if large you may want to quarter the halves and then slice. I wanted a more chunky marmalade so the slices are larger. Try to reserve as much juice as possible. As sliced, place the lemons into a 5-quart nonreactive heavy pot. Tie up the seeds and place them into the pot with the lemons and 4 cups of water.
Let the mixture stand, covered, at room temperature for 24 hours.
Meyer Lemon Marmalade
The next day bring the lemon mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until reduced to about 4 cups. This will take 45 minutes to an hour.
Prepare your hot water canner and sterilize your jars. You will need enough water to cover the sealed jars by 1 inch.
Remove the cloth bag of seeds from the pot and stir in the sugar, bring back to a boil.
Continue to boil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally and skimming off any foam, until a teaspoon of the mixture dropped on a cold plate gels. This will take 15-25 minutes.
Meyer Lemon Marmalade
Ladle the marmalade into jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of the top. Wipe rims with a dampened cloth and seal with lids.
Process in a hot water bath for 5 minutes, transfer with tongs to a rack and cool completely. Check to see all the jars have sealed.