Roasted Chicken and the Thermapen

Ally is my mini chef. She likes to cook dinner for the family once a week or so. I try to just step back and only help her if she asks for it because I think the best way for her to learn it to figure it out.

 

Wednesday, she wanted to cook dinner. I already had a whole chicken that I was going to do something with so she decided to Roast it. I love making whole chickens because 1.They're cheap, 2. I can get a couple of meals out the them.
Normally when I do a whole chicken, I'll use it for enchiladas. I'll start by boiling the chicken and making a stock. I end up getting a bit of chicken stock that I freeze for later use.
Here's what Ally decided to do with the chicken....

(after rinsing off the chicken and removing the giblet bag from inside....this is important. If you don't remove it, it gets nasty inside when you cook it....trust me, I speak from experience)
Liberally salt and pepper inside the chicken cavity then fill with a lemon  sliced in half, 1/2 head of garlic, and 2 sprigs of thyme.

Tie chickens legs together and tuck under the wings.
Rub butter all over the outside of the chicken, sprinkle with salt, pepper, thyme. (I used dry thyme but you can also use fresh), cover with Bacon. I would cover with more bacon than Ally used, and I would maybe toothpick the ends of it down so it doesn't curl up like ours did.
Place in roasting dish and Roast on 425 for about an hour (or until 165 degrees inside).




I don't have any after pictures.....I'll get better at remembering, I promise.

Last Christmas my brother bought me a Thermapen. It's one of my must have kitchen tools!! If you don't have one, get one!