"Remedial" roast chicken with lemon

Annalena has said it before, and she will say it again: the measure of a cook is his or her roast chicken. If you can roast a bird that people swoon over, ESPECIALLY after they've muttered something like "Oh. s/he's serving us roast chicken. Oh well," then you've MADE IT.
I have presented what I feel is the best roast chicken recipe EVER on this site: the chicken that they prepare at Zuni Cafe' in San Francisco. You have to wait an hour to get it, and it is worth it. Have some drinks, nibble some fries, do some people watching, and then dig in.
Some readers who have tried the recipe have told me how much they like it, but... they temperature at which it is cooked (500 degrees), is not to the liking of every smoke detector. Also, there are folks who simply cannot get it together to put the herbs under the skin , or to salt the bird ahead of time. BUT.. they still want a good roast chicken.
Never one to let down her devoted following (think about it: have you seen a recipe for anything more adventurous than squid in these pages? You want tripe? Sweetbreads? Hmmmm????), Annalena tested other recipes. To be honest, in her mind, they all fell short of the one discussed above. BUT... for those of you who really want to avoid the smoke, and want something more traditional, this one is for you.

It is actually a very good chicken, especially if you are in the "moist is more important than crispy" school, because this is a very moist, juicy bird, that is not necessarily the brownest bird you will find. The large amount of lemons certainly adds something to it. Whether it's what you want, is of course up to you.

If neither of these recipes work for you, I recommend looking for a recipe for chicken with 40 cloves of garlic, which is really superb when done well. Anyway, here we go.

You will need to preheat your oven to 325. (Remember? My other recipe goes up to 500). You will need a 3-3.5 pound chicken, a half teaspoon each of salt and pepper, 2 large lemons, 6 peeledcloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons each of butter and olive oil (Remember? My other recipe has no added fat).

Take your chicken, and wash and dry it well . Need I say it should be the best chicken you can afford to buy? Season it, inside and out, with the salt and pepper. Then, peel a lemon, and rub the bird, all over, with the peel. Now, take that skinned lemon, and squeeze the juice all over the bird, and squeeze some inside, too. Put the squeezed lemon pieces, and the peeled garlic, into the cavity of the chicken. Get it into a roasting pan

Combine the butter and olive oil and heat it, to melt the butter. You'll have 4 tablespoons of liquid fat. Pour about 1.5 tablespoons or so inside the chicken, and the rest on it.

Roast this in the oven for an hour and a half. You need to baste it every fifteen minutes. If you have a bird baster, which is essentially a large dropper that picks up the liquid as it gathers. If you don't, slightly tilt the pan (AFTER you've protected your hands), and pick up some of the liquid with a big spoon. Keep in mind that you're dropping the temperature of the oven every time you do this, though.

One hour into the roasting process, cut up the second lemon, and squeeze it over the chicken. Then continue to roast.

This bird simply is not going to get very brown. The temperature is low, there's a lot of liquid, and you're constantly opening and closing the oven. If you want a darker bird, take a deep breath, and turn the oven up to broil. Keep an eye on the bird. I would check after 90 seconds, and then every minute, until you have a color you like. Again, I say, you will not get a very dark bird.

When it's done, let it rest for about fifteen minutes before you carve it up. If you are a true lemon fan, keep the skin for yourself. It's almost tart. You will have a very moist bird which, in my mind, is better sliced up for sandwiches, or a chicken salad, than for a roasted chicken dinner. But you make the call. And if you care to, let Annalena know.

This recipe, incidentally, comes from the new New York Times cookbook, of which I have written before. I recommend the book.