Bacon Roasted Chicken
5-6 lb whole chicken (remove giblets and “treasures” inside the cavity)
1 lemon, washed and sliced
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp ground sage
1 tsp smoked sea salt (I used Applewood Smoked sea salt)
5-8 thin slices uncured bacon
I brined my whole chicken in water heavily salted with pink Himalayan salt; simply dissolve salt in water and submerge the chicken in it, making sure the chicken stays completely covered with water. Place in fridge overnight. When you’re ready to prep it for baking, remove chicken from salt water and dry it off with paper towels. Preheat oven to 350° to 375°. Place on a baking rack situated in a rimmed baking sheet (because there will be drippings once it starts baking….which are to be reserved for making the gravy, if desired). Place lemon slices inside the cavity of the chicken. Combine the rosemary, thyme, sage and smoked salt in a bowl and, using your hands, lift up on the skin on the upper side of the chicken breast and slather the herb/salt mixture under the skin. Reserve some for placing inside the cavity with the lemon slices. Using cotton twine, tie chicken legs together. Tuck wings under the neck of the chicken so it looks like the chicken is sunbathing. 😆. Place bacon slices on the top surface of the chicken, covering as much of the exposed surface as possible. Place chicken in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes for every pound the chicken weighs. Mine was 5.25 pounds and I baked it for about 2 hours and 20 minutes.
About an hour and a half into baking, I removed the chicken from the oven and transferred it to a serving dish (ceramic oval shaped baker with 2” sides) using a large flat spatula. I returned the chicken back to the oven to continue baking and I used the drippings in the original pan to make gravy. The recipe went something like this…
Gravy
1 Tbsp butter
2-3 Tbsp flour
juices/ drippings from the pan the chicken was cooking in
In a saucepan heat butter and flour over medium-low heat until the flour begins to brown just slightly. Add pan juices/dripping to the mixture and, using a whisk, blend until smooth. Mixture will begin to thicken. Add more drippings from the serving dish as the collect in the bottom of the dish. Add water if more volume is needed. Whisk to make the mixture smooth. No need for salt, pepper or any spices because the drippings are perfectly seasoned. This gravy was kinda the star of the show at lunch today. Seriously.
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