Roast Chicken with Bacon
This is one of John’s favorite meals: bacon stuffed roasted chicken. Any leftover meat is used to make meals for the next few days: quesadillas, chicken on biscuit, stir fry, croquettes, pasta, white chicken pizza, chili, alfredo lasagna… Like ground beef, chicken is so versatile! Everything else is tossed into a soup pot with some water, veggie peels and herbs to create a delicious broth. You can use it in some of the chicken dishes mentioned above or make some chicken soup.
Ingredients
whole chicken
salt
pepper
seasonings to taste (we used garlic powder, rosemary, and thyme)
splash dry white wine (or chicken broth)
herbs
Directions
Rinse the chicken inside and out, then pat dry. Sprinkle the chicken's body cavity lightly with salt, pepper, and seasonings. Crumble any larger dried herbs a bit before sprinkling. Chop the bacon ends into small pieces, then loosen the skin around the breast and thighs. Stuff the bacon ends underneath the skin of the chicken. Tie the bird's legs together and place it in a shallow roasting pan. Pour a little white wine into the body cavity of the chicken, and pour the rest over the skin. Sprinkle the skin with a bit more salt, pepper, and seasonings.
Roast uncovered at 375°, basting periodically, until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the thigh (not touching the bone) registers 185° or until the meat near the thighbone is no longer pink when slashed. A whole chicken should be cooked for 20-25 minutes per pound, so for a 4 lb bird, you'd need to roast the chicken for about 1 1/2 hours.
Transfer the chicken to a platter; cover it with foil to keep warm. Skim and discard the fat from the pan drippings. We used the pan drippings to replace some of the water to make rice, and then sauteed mushrooms and onions in butter and stirred those into the rice for a side dish.
