Crispy Bacon Chicken

For dinner tonight, we had a whole chicken from Springer Mountain Farms topped with some deliciously crispy bacon .  These birds really do taste great and once again, they are fairly local, coming from Mt. Airy, Georgia.

 I placed the whole bird on a vertical poultry roaster (placed on sheet pan to catch fat drippings) and liberally applied some Kroger Zesty Blend seasoning (salt free) and a pinch of kosher salt, I opted to apply several large slabs of Hormel Natural Choice Bacon.  This stuff seems to be the least processed bacon I can find for now, and it is absolutely delicious.

Oven preheated to 350' F.   Allow to roast for about 1.5 hours till the bird reaches 165' F at the deepest part of the breast.

You can see in this shot how the fat and grease simply fell away from the bird as it roasted.  This makes for a much leaner, cleaner bird.

And yes, that bacon was as good as it looks.  It also had a wonderful effect on the very crispy skin of the chicken.  Bacon, is there anything you can't do?

And for a side dish, I also prepared a nice saute of fresh squash, zucchini, butter, olive oil, and mushrooms.  Really light but very filling.