Serves 4

Olive oil (for the baking dish)

1 whole chicken (3½ to 4 pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large Meyer lemon

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 pound shallots, peeled

1. Set the oven at 400 degrees. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Have on hand a 12-inch piece of kitchen twine.

2. Remove the giblets from the chicken. With paper towels, thoroughly pat it dry inside and out. Rub the skin with the olive oil and sprinkle generously inside and out with salt and pepper. Set it in the baking dish.

3. With a vegetable peeler, remove 3 wide strips of rind from the lemon. Strip the leaves from the rosemary stems. On a cutting board with a large knife, finely chop the lemon rind, rosemary, and garlic together.

4. Starting at the neck end of the chicken, slip your fingers under the skin to loosen it, making pockets under the breast halves and upper part of the legs. Spread the herb mixture inside the pockets.

5. Cut the lemon into quarters. Squeeze the juice over the chicken and place the spent quarters inside the cavity. With the twine, tie the legs together and cut off the loose ends. Surround the bird with the shallots.

6. Roast the chicken for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 160 degrees. Transfer to a carving board and let the chicken rest for 10 minutes (the temperature will rise 5 degrees).

7. Strain the pan juices into a clear measuring cup. With a spoon, remove and discard the fat that rises to the top. Carve the chicken into serving pieces and serve with the sauce and roasted shallots. Sally Pasley Vargas

Sally Pasley Vargas can be reached at sally.p.vargas@gmail.com.