Don't call it a comeback...

*See closeup of cauliflower at the end of the post, it's to die!

I've been here for years! Well not in the blogasphere but most definately representin' in the real world. It occured to me today that I've been neglecting my poor blog and, well, that had to change. So I dusted off my apron, along with an old recipe, and here I am ready to get down to business.

Now, I know there is enough Rachel Ray hatin' going around to fill a giant"GB" but sometimes the ol' girl has a good recipe and even a good idea here and there and this is one of them. The first and only time I tried this recipe I was still a bachelorette in an 8 year relationship without any prospects of marriage in the horizon, so what better "motivation" for my man to marry me than for me to show him I could be a good wife in the kitchen? -Wow, I just lost the feminist vote but who cares! It's true! The way to a man's heart is his stomach, so suck it feminist!

But I digress......I should say the real way to a man's heart is through his stomach via bacon wrapped anything, which brings us to our recipe. It's not only easy, it's affordable and did I mention easy? It's also.....wait for it....."wrapped" in BACON!!!!

The recipe calls for a 3.5 pound chicken but I used a 5 pounder and therefor had to cook it longer. I didn't realize this until I had already added the cauliflower at the 1/2 way point as called for in the recipe. So my cauliflower ended up roasting for an extra half hour. It didn't turn out mushy but it didn't turn out crunchy like I like it either. Had I paid more attention I would have added the cauliflower in the last half hour because my chicken was bigger. But whatev' you live, you learn and I ain't no pro.

Boy am I chatty after a hiatus, I'll wrap it up. This recipe is a must try and totally awesome for such little effort, so big ups to RR!!! I'll write it as I made it and as I will make it next time.

Bacon "Stuffed" Roasted Chicken with Cauliflower

by: Rachel Ray

Ingredients

1 -5 pound whole chicken, rinsed and patted dry

4 -bacon strips
Salt & Freshly ground pepper
1 -Head cauliflower, cored and cut into bite-size florets
1 -Head of garlic, cloves peeled
1 1/2 Tablespoons EVOO (I had to represent for RR)

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. Loosen the skin of the chicken breast, drumsticks & thighs with your fingers and slide the bacon in. I did 1 slice per breast and 1 slice per drumstick/thigh area. Season the outside with salt and pepper. Place the chicken, breast side up, in a roasting pan with a rack and roast for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes lower the temperature to 400º and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, toss the cauliflower, garlic and oil together in a bowl and season with salt & pepper to taste. After the chicken has cooked for an hour, remove the chicken and rack from the roasting pan and add the vegetables to the perimeter of the pan. Return chicken (without rack) to the middle of the roasting pan (breast up) and roast until the chicken is cooked through and the cauliflower is tender, about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and tent the chicken with foil and let rest for 10 minutes before carving.