Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
• Slice one of the Meyer lemons and quarter the rest. Rinse the thyme. Rinse the stems of rosemary and trim off the woody ends. Peel and quarter the onions and slice the carrots and celery into large chunks.
• Pat the chicken dry. Loosen the skin along the breasts and thigh areas by running your fingers underneath. With a brush or your hands, coat the chicken with canola oil. Sprinkle the bird all over and inside the cavity with Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Place a couple of chunks of the onion, carrots and celery into the cavity along with several of the quartered lemon pieces and one sprig of rosemary and thyme.
• Lift the skin and shove slices of lemon and sprigs of rosemary and thyme underneath. Continue until you have covered as much of the chicken as you can. In a large roasting pan with a rack, place the chicken on the rack and add all of the leftover vegetables, lemon and herbs underneath the bird. Cover the pan with aluminum foil, but try not to wrap the chicken skin. Place into the oven and let it roast for 45 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and uncover. Remove the lemons and rosemary stems from under the skin and let the chicken roast (uncovered) for another 15 minutes. At this point, check the internal temperature of the chicken with a probe thermometer inserted at the thickest part. It should be at least 165ºF.
• Brush the skin of the chicken with melted butter and return the chicken to the oven with the temperature set to broil. Watch it carefully. This is a crucial point to brown and crisp the outside skin of the chicken, but being careful not to burn or blacken. This will take a matter of a minute or two.
• Once browned, remove from the oven and let rest before carving. Drain the juices into a saucepan, and if needed, add more chicken stock to make a sauce. Thicken on low heat with a slurry by mixing the corn starch with cold water and bringing to a boil. When it reaches the proper thickness remove from the heat. Slice the chicken and serve with the sauce along with mashed potatoes and vegetables of your choice.