Test 1 - Apple and Pork Stuffed Roast Chicken

In translating a recipe for stuffing from Dorothy Heartley's fascinating book Food In England, I developed this roast chicken recipe. Its calorie density makes it definitely good for a hard-working farmhouse crew in the cold of winter.

1 whole chicken
2 Tbsps of bacon fat; or 3 slices bacon
A dozen small onions
5-8 boiled potatoes
Salt and Pepper
1 recipe of Pork and Apple Stuffing

1. Pre-heat the oven to 400F.
2. Meanwhile, if you don't have bacon fat on hand, render the baconslices for their fat over medium heat. If you do have bacon fat on hand, melt it gently in a large pan - no cooking is involved, it just needs to be in liquid form.
3. When peeling the onions, cut off only the brown dry bit of the basal plate and then cut them in quarters so that the layers of onion stay together while roasting.
4. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper.
5. Stuff the bird with the Porc and Apple Stuffing, as full as you can, from both ends. There is no need to truss the bird and it's ok if the stuffing spills out a bit, but it should be moist enough to mold itself into the bird.
6. Once the fat from the bacon has been rendered, toss the onion and the potatoes in the fat just to cover them. Remove them from the bacon fat with a slotted spoon and lay at the bottom of a roasting pan. 
7. Lay the chicken on top of the potato and onion mix, breast up.
8. Pour the remaining bacon fat over the chicken.
9. Roast in the oven, covered, for 45 minutes, then uncover and roast an additional 45 minutes, or until a meat thermometre IN THE STUFFING reads 165F (I say in the stuffing because, being in the centre of the bird, it is the last part that reaches the correct internal temperature to kill any harmful bacteria).
10. Once the stuffing and the breast read 165F on a meat thermometre, remove from the oven and let sit for 10-20 minutes before carving to allow the meat to relax and allow the juices to spread evenly throughout.