Once upon a time long ago, a friend of mine told me she was doing a crazy thing called the Master Cleanse; for something like thirty days she consumed only a tonic made from water, lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. This, of course, went down in California. Since then I've tried the Master Cleanse once, for three miserable days, and bombed.
Fast forward to today: years have passed and I find myself in Northern California on a two-week trip, having all kinds of wonderfully familiar cliché Californian experiences likw leaving the house unlocked, being greeted by neighbors with "dear gentle people," meeting a local couple who founded a nudist peace movement, walking through clouds of patchouli at the hardware store, and always being given the option for soy, rice or almond milk in my coffee.
I'm here on a cooking vacation — clearly no time for a cleanse — but as I strolled the market dreaming up dinner, it all came back to me, those fond memories of the wacky things I learned about while growing up here. Something about the maple syrup stand and the poultry guy: an idea was born. Bingo! Master Cleanse chicken! It's sweet, it's spicy, it's bright, and most importantly, it's full of delicious chicken fat and flavor.
What started as a silly idea, became one of my favorite new ways to flavor a roasted chicken. The maple gives the skin a sweet crunch, and the whole lemon, lemon zest, and lemon juice keeps the flesh moist and tangy. If you really like spice, increase the cayenne to a tablespoon, but even as written this recipe has a kick. The leftovers make great sandwiches with crisp greens and homemade mayonaise.

Master Cleanse Chicken
serves 2-41 3-4 pound roasting chicken
1 small whole lemon
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon coarse salt
Check the chicken for a packet of giblets. If there is one, remove it and discard or reserve for another use. Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel, inside and out, and put it on a plate. Slice the lemon in half and place it inside the cavity. Fold under the wings and tie up the legs either with kitchen twine or by slicing a slit in each side of the fat around the neck and inserting the end of the drumsticks in the opposite side.
In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, maple syrup, lemon zest and cayenne pepper.
Place the chicken in a gallon-size zippered plastic bag. Pour the lemon mixture all over the chicken. Sprinkle it evenly with salt. Seal the bag with as little extra air as possible. Refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
Remove the chicken from the bag and keep the remaining marinade. Roast the chicken your preferred way, or my favorite way, from the Zuni Café Cookbook, below.
Preheat the oven to 475°F and put in a heavy cast iron skillet. Take the chicken out of the refrigerator and pat it dry again.
When the oven is fully heated, place the chicken breast-side up in the skillet. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until it is getting golden, then flip it over. If it browns deeply, turn the heat down to 400° and tent lighting with foil. Roast for another 15 minutes, then flip it again and baste with the remaining marinade, then cook to re-crisp for about 10 minutes. When you flip it the second time put a meat thermometer in the meatiest part of the thigh and check the temperature. When it reaches 165°F and the juices run clear, it is ready. Remove the chicken immediately and tent it with foil. Let it rest at least half an hour before serving.
Related: A Million Ways to Roast a Chicken
(images: Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
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Comments (41)
I love everything about this recipe. Master Cleanse: pfffft.
Brilliant, I may have to try this over the weekend.
This is definitely the only way I'll ever try a "master cleanse" (or any cleanse for that matter)! :)
I can't stop looking at this chicken.... I'm making it this weekend!
The closest I ever came to a Master Cleanse was the night before my first colonoscopy...
No thanks.
Can't wait to try this recipe - I do have a quick question tho - recipe states to keep the marinade, but I don't see any mention of using the leftover marinade?
The Master Cleanse scares the heck out of me, but this chicken sounds amazing. Can't wait to try it.
Sounds delicious, except for the name. "Master Cleanse" is not appetizing ... and scary.
Hahah, I love this. Master Cleanse Chicken. Waaaay better with chicken and fat included! =)
Genius Genius Genius! My mom's family lives in NorCal and it is hands down the wackiest and most gorgeous place I've visited.
@DASPEARS it's a little hidden but it's there - it says to baste the chicken with the marinade in the last step of roasting. Enjoy!!!
Ahhhh I love California...
I can't think of a more appropriate food to cook this weekend for my birthday--master cleanse chicken!
I love roasting chickens. I can't wait to try these flavors!
I've tried the master cleanse a few times and failed miserably, but I sometimes find myself craving that maple cayenne lemonade (weird, right?). Love the idea of those flavors on chicken! Perfect!
Leave the house unlocked?!? Huh. I was born and raised in California and I've never done this. I've always thought it was a gentle Midwestern thing. Perhaps it's a regional urban myth: the area somewhere where it's safe enough to leave the house unlocked!
You did better than I did, I got two coworkers to join me on some cleanse from Whole Living Magazine that was supposed to be three weeks. I didn't make it three days -- and it even included some food!
I love this! Sticking it to the Master Cleanse nuts AND an awesome chicken recipe! 2 birds. 1 stone.
My parents used to do the Master Cleanse back in the '80s. Oh, what misery.
This recipe though, is fantastic. I usually roast my chicken with lemon, so maybe I'll try this.
That chicken looks yummy!
I always hear from outsiders how odd California can be...
To me, all the other places are odd! I definitely feel fortunate to grow up and continue to live in a place with access to such wonderful food, beer, wine...and don't get me started on the gorgeous scenery! I certainly don't take it for granted!
Jeez, I feel like such a cliche - I am working from home in beautiful San Francisco, looking up holistic rubs for shins from too much outdoor running, while I am on day 9 of the master cleanse....true story.
Where in Northern California? Sounds just like where I grew up (Nevada City)...
Excellent sounding recipe for when it cools off outside, too hot to turn the oven on now.
Laughing, because I have recently returned home to California. Yeah, pick a cliche!
Chloe C,
I live in Redding, which is far north of most of what passes for northern California. Because it's really hot here in the summer, I have a portable convection oven outside on my covered patio. This recipe sounds delicious, and I'm going to try it this weekend.
HAHAHA...honestly I thought this was going to go in the opposite direction considering the phrase Master Cleanse produces an entirely different image...but...honestly that makes sense!
I live in northern California, and I wouldn't dream of leaving my door unlocked, even when I'm home. But this chicken recipe? That's a California experience I can get behind.
Isn't 180 a bit high? I thought the guidelines had been revised to use 165 as the internal temp for chicken?
i lived in santa cruz and then oakland in the 80's to mid 90's and your thoughts brought back so many memories. yerba prima colon cleanse was HUGE in santa cruz... anyways, i laughed myself silly reading your story. thanks! not a meat eater but perhaps some soy curls could share this recipe hmmmmmm
Sorry, but the idea of naming a recipe after a purgative routine is not even the least bit clever to me. I am also not enthralled by the combination of maple and lemon. This just does not sound good. Happy times to all who enjoy this, but I will dine elsewhere.
Vegetarian here but that sounds SO good I might attempt to use the marinade for tofu..
And your description of CA made me want to move there, hah!
I think I've only roasted a chicken once (sad, I know) so this makes me want to do it again. I'll have to wait until the temperature goes down. Still too hot in the Northeast to turn on the oven for that long...
I think this sounds like it just be awesome. Will definitely be trying it. Still laughing at all the comments. Grew up in Orange County, CA and left 40 years later. Good place to be from!! Would never have dreamed of leaving any door unlocked. Still can't get past the Calif. fear I had for many years! Beautiful place, but way too much crime. I am loving it in So. Oregon!
katherine1123 that is the best idea I've heard in a long time, duh!
(putting the convection/toaster oven outside on the covered patio)
Funny how sometimes I need the obvious pointed out.
Convection/Toaster oven coming right in out of the garage momentarily.
I had 1.5 # of chicken legs defrosting when this posted. 36 hours in the marinade and a few seconds in the cast iron skillet then on to the oven to finish. Fabulous! Simple, Delicious, Brilliant. Thank You.
This looked like a great recipe at first. Then I began to wonder: What is "tent lighting with foil"? I'm picturing my kitchen spots covered with foil so I can't see the chicken.....hmmm. Anyhow, when you marinate chicken for longer than a few hours, I usually find the muscle begins to break down, even though the lemon juice is just a mild acid diluted by the other ingredients. The resultant cooked texture is unpleasant. I would try it for a shorter time. Roasting in a cast iron pan alone usually makes for a great chicken, so that part looked good. But if you're basting with the leftover marinade, shouldn't it be boiled to kill the bacteria it will pick up from the uncooked chicken? Sort of a "bug bath" for the chicken otherwise! Pretty basic science.
Made it for my birthday. It turned out great--the recipe is a keeper. I added fresh rosemary and oregano, garlic powder and olive oil. Roasted it in the over on a cast iron skillet at 350 degrees. Served it with wild rice and locally grown yellow squash.
OH this is delicious! I've making something like this for years but that added bit of cayenne really gave it that extra pop its been missing!!! DELIcIOUS!!
As to the leaving doors unlocked being an "urban legend"... umm yeah we have lived places where we left our doors unlocked... the only time they were locked was when we went out of town overnight/vacation or when we went to bed at night. some locations were suburban, some rural... alaska, nebraska, indiana, ohio. (and I mean as recently as our last move...)
GOSH DARN IT !! I was sure this was going to be a recipe for a "cleanse" that involved eating just chicken :- ( I'm a native Californian, I should have known better. Oh well, it sounds delish and I can't wait to try it.
P.S. I'm going to try this in my Crock Pot since it is way, way too hot here in beautiful Southern Cali to use the oven for anything. I also keep my slow cooker outside in the summer to avoid the radiant heat.
I've done the Master Cleanse a few times but was never as successful as the first time. It's not easy and it's not for everyone. But my teenage son loves the MC lemonade as a regular beverage.
I now always keep Grade B maple syrup stocked (no more ‘pancake syrup’ in my house!). I use it for cooking – check out Real Simple’s Maple-glazed Salmon w/Pineapple. And for iced green tea (decaf) I sweeten with grade B maple syrup and raw (Turbinado) sugar -- a big hit.
BUT, I can’t wait to try it with roast chicken. And marinated for 24-48 hours? OMG. I may roast the bird standing upright and add the marinade inside and outside the skin.
Thanks so much for this recipe. I know it's going to be great!
Must be marinating a canary. I had to triple marinade for a 3lb chicken. No spices in this except the cayenne so I added crushed garlic. Did not waste the whole lemon as a stuffing only used the rinds after juice had been squeezed. Also zested 2 of the lemons before squeezing. had use about 4 lemons in all. Only 1/4 tsp cayenne. Even for those of us who like really spicy food, TWO tsp is TOO much. Maple syrup is entirely too expensive so just used regular old syrup. OK dish but would not bother with it again.
I know...California is a funny place...been here all my life and still think it's weird! Chicken looks yummy, by the way!