I took the chicken, the whole chicken, and nothing but the chicken… stuffed it with a mix of sautéed shallots, apple, garlic, and rosemary. Brushed it with melted butter that I mixed with BBQ seasonings. Wrapped it with bacon and slapped it on the Big Green Egg. What more is there to say?

This recipe is the epitome of fall and the holidays to me. The moment they will bring smell to the Internet, we’re all in big trouble, people.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken (mine was 3 pounds)
5 shallots
1 sweet apple
1 large garlic clove
1 rosemary sprig
3 oz bacon (thick slices)
3 tbsp butter or oil
1 tsp seasoning (I’ve used BBBR & Dizzy Dust)

Optional: Lawry’s garlic salt

Directions:

Peel and coarsely chop the shallots. Grate or mince the garlic.

Peel and dice the apple. Mine was a Golden Delicious.

Heat a tbsp butter or oil and add the shallots.

Season the shallots with a pinch of pepper and salt. Sauté them over low to medium heat for about 5 minutes.

As soon as they’ve browned up a bit…

It’s time to add the diced apples.

Add the garlic and cook things a few minutes, until the apples get a slight tan but are still firm. Turn off the heat.

Fill the chicken with the shallots and apples and push a rosemary sprig in there as well for some extra flavor. I tied the leg backs together.

Nuke the remaining 2 tbsp butter or use oil. I opted for a mix of seasonings. I wanted a little heat so I grabbed some Jamaican firewalk.

And I combined it with the fragrant Bad Byron’s Butt Rub.

I spiked the butter with a bit of Lawry’s garlic salt.

Brush the chicken with the seasoned butter (or oil).

Wrap the breast part of the chicken with bacon. This doesn’t just add a tremendous amount of flavor but it also prevents the chicken from drying out.

There. Stuffed and wrapped. All ready for my BGE.

I wanted it low and slow—give the bacon fat time to drip all over the chicken during cooking—so I’ve set my Big Green Egg up for indirect cooking at 350F (175C). You can do the same in your oven, just place a large tray filled with water underneath to catch the drippings so things won’t get messy.

I gave the chicken 90 minutes at a constant 350F. The second photo is what the chicken looked like after 45 minutes.

This was taken after 70 minutes.

After 90 minutes it had the perfect crunchy brown exterior and a core temperature of 180F (80C). I wrapped the chicken in aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting it.

This was the best chicken I’ve had in a long, long, time. Honestly, it was just perfect.

I served it with two special side dishes that really completed the meal. Recipes to follow.