Roast Chicken Stuffed with Rosemary and Thyme (and Sometimes Truffles)

Ingredients

• One 3 1/2-to-4-pound chicken
• 2 cloves garlic
• sliced in 2 pieces each
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 lemon or preserved lemon (see page 171)
• cut in half
• 1 onion
• cut in half lengthwise
• Juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

1. The night before roasting, rub the chicken with the garlic and olive oil.
2. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.
3. Stuff the cavity with rosemary and thyme sprigs, the preserved lemon, the garlic cloves, and the onion.
4. Place in a Pyrex baking dish, cover, and leave in the refrigerator overnight.
5. Two hours before cooking, take the chicken out of the refrigerator.
6. Remove the lemon and squeeze its juice over the skin, then return it to the cavity.
7. Put the chicken in a cold oven.
8. Then raise the heat to 375 degrees, and cook for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, basting occasionally, until golden and cooked through.