The only citrus I have on hand is limes. A couple of cut limes, half a head of garlic, some fresh parsley, 1/2 an onion.
Sound good, or gross?
I plan to butter the bird all over, and under the breast skin, with a mixture of chopped fresh parsley and dried rosemary. Salt and pepper on the outside, as well as the cavity before using the aromatics.
Am I crazy? The bird goes in the oven in an hour.
I say go for it!
Many years ago a coworker described a dish that his wife made using chicken, butter and lime. I must have inadvertently made the “ewww” face, because he assured me that it was one of the tastiest dishes she had ever prepared.
Keep us posted, now I’m curious…
Not crazy. I have a baked chicken recipe that uses a honey and lime marinade/ glaze. I’m not sure I’d mix the lime and the rosemary, though. Maybe paprika?
I’m thinking it will just be a hint of lime from steaming inside the bird. I don’t want a glaze - I’ve been looking at recipes after googling this, and most have an Asian or Southwest flavor. I’m trying for a “classic” roast chicken.
You might have guessed I don’t do this very often. I should have brined the chicken… Too late now.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.
Paging Chefguy!
You can get excellent roast chicken results with just garlic and rosemary. That’s actually my favorite way to do it. So if the limes are making you nervous, you definitely don’t need citrus to get good chicken.
Chicken have teeth? And eat limes? Ignorance fought!
Seriously, I think that sounds good. Citrus fruits are a good ingredient in cooking fish and poultry. It sounds like it will be zesty!
Good luck with it.
Many years ago, we were making a chicken dish which called for slices of lemon to be inserted under the skin prior to baking- to really let the lemon saturate the chicken. We’d had the dish before, and had really like it.
However, we definitely prefer limes to lemons… so we thought we’d substitute slices of lime. Big mistake.
The lime… burned, I guess. It didn’t look burned, but it gave the entire chicken a sort of scorched chemically taste. The difference, we figure, is that lemons have more sugar than limes do- so instead of carmelizing the lemon, it burned the lime.
Put the lime in the cavity and eat it all up!
But Doctor, ain’t there nothing I can take?
I say, doctor. To relieve this bellyache?
I stuff the cavities of chickens with lemons all the time, so I don’t see why not.
EDIT: Dead chickens, I mean.
FURTHER EDIT: For cooking. Dead chickens for cooking. I stuff them with lemons and then cook the chicken. Jesus. I should read things aloud before I post them.
Lime should be fine, although I don’t think I’ve ever had it with rosemary. That’d be my only concern, as to how it pairs with rosemary, but I think it should be fine.
Before you stuff the cavity and roast it, I urge you to consider this method. I used to stuff the cavity and put flavored butter under the skin until I discovered this unbelievably simple and delicious method. If you don’t try it this time around, promise to try it at least once. I’ve never done a bird any other way since. If I were using that method, I would serve the chicken alongside wedges of lime, for squirting at the table, probably with some hot pepper, too.
I saw that recipe! It looked great. But this other site said I didn’t need to truss the bird. 
You’re five minutes too late, however. The deed is done!
I’ll be back later. I’m making scalloped potatoes and steamed fresh broccoli to go with it. This is my Dad’s meal request for this week.
Put the lime in the cavity, and call me in the moooooorning!
Quicklime in cavity of roast chicken?
Eww, no.
I’m probably too late, but there’s no reason not to use the lime. It should complement the rosemary very well.
I take the chicken fat from around the vent and neck openings, and dice it with some seasonings. I put this under the skin of the breasts, and stuff the cavities with some onion, celery, and carrot, and place the seasoned bird on a bed of peeled sliced potatoes. I don’t think I could get away with NOT roasting the veggies in and under the bird, because everyone fights for the veggies. Seriously. Hell, I’ve been known to peel and slice various veggies and toss them in chicken broth, and roast them. I periodically put in more broth and stir until they’re done. Chicken broth/drippings boosts the flavor of veggies.
I’m interested in how the OP’s dish came out. I’d probably put some garlic in the bird, with lime or lemon.
The recipe I linked to actually works fine roasting the bird atop the veggies (and that’s what I normally do–well, more like bird atop and veggies surrounding), but if your recipe ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I just really like the crunchy and perfect skin in the Keller recipe.
And to the OP: I don’t bother trussing the bird for that recipe. I just tuck the legs together either using a flap of skin, a skewer, or kitchen twine. No need to go crazy and truss.
The chicken came out great, if a bit underdone. The breast was wonderful, and the legs were perfect. Just a bit too pink near the joining of thighs to body. But we had plenty to eat, and I’ll boil the carcass to get the rest of the meat off. (I did use a thermometer, but I must have placed it wrong. And I think I stuffed too much in the cavity, making it take longer to cook.)
You could not taste the lime at all! Garlic permeated, as did onion. The breast meat was absolutely divine, with the rosemary-and-lemon pepper butter under the skin. The skin was crispy and brown. I don’t eat the skin, but I tasted a bit - the guys said it was great!
Thanks for all your input, guys.
‘Around here, a man just ain’t a man unless he can stuff a chicken!’
– Chef Dijon, Zombie! vs. Mardi Gras
Sorry to be late to the party, but lots of folks had good answers. Lime is a key ingredient when making fajitas, so I would have said “Si!”.