The Best Roast Chicken Ever

According to the hubs, this is The Greatest Roast Chicken Ever.

And to me, it's The Easiest Roast Chicken Ever.
But possibly also one of the tastiest possible.

WIN! WIN!

And just whhhyyyyyy is it so delicious AND simple?

BACON!

Also, it only requires 6 ingredients:

1 whole roaster chicken (between 3 and 6 lbs.)

3-6 slices of bacon (depending on size of chicken, or preference)

1/3 cup of brandy

1 onion, quartered

salt

water or chicken stock

THAT'S IT!!!!!

There is no brining, no complex stuffing, no chopping except for 2 whacks at an onion, no picking the tiny leaves off of fresh herbs, nada.  The hardest part of this meal is just remembering to baste!

And frankly, in my house, the only things I'd have to go out and purchase for this meal would be the chicken and the bacon, as the other ingredients are always on hand in my kitchen.

It's such a magical food.

 This recipe was inspired by an episode of one of Nigella Lawson's cooking shows, but I could not find the recipe online later, so I just winged it, added a bit more bacon than she mentioned, and threw in the salt for the cavity and the onion out of habit.

Step One: Preheat your oven. (I do 425º for the first 30 minutes, and then the rest of the time cook the chicken at 350º but stick with whatever method you're used to.)

Step Two: Brown your bacon and set aside to drain on paper towels. Possibly make extra as you KNOW you're going to want to snack on some once you smell it cooking.

 Step Three: Pour your (pre-measured) brandy into the pan of bacon drippings and allow it to sizzle (step back!) and combine until it calms down. Set this aside off of the heat.

See the flecks of bacon from the drippings?!

For the bird, I salt the cavity and then place half to a whole onion (quartered) into the cavity for flavor and moisture. (Depends on the size of both the bird and the onion.)

Step Four: Insert bacon into the chicken's cavity and truss your bird. Refrain from placing broken bits of bacon under the chicken's skin, as they will burn a bit. (Things you learn the hard way.)

Step Five: Pour brandied bacon fat over the chicken.

Step Six: Add about 3/4 of an inch of water or chicken stock to the bottom of the pan for basting and to prevent spitting or burning.

 Step Seven: Cook.
(Yes I chose to throw some carrots and onion into the bottom of the pan as well because then you get roasted carrots THAT TASTE LIKE BACON!)
This happened to be a 6 pound bird, so it took 1 hour and 30 minutes to cook, and I basted every 15-20 minutes... or when I remembered.

Crappy photo taken because I just wanted to EAT!

Let the chicken rest on a baking sheet (or carving board, wherever works for you) and turn those amazing drippings into a sweet dark gravy. All I used was a tsp of flour to help it thicken and a little time over a burner with a whisk.

THE GREATEST ROAST CHICKEN.

You're welcome.