Smothered Chicken

Ingredients

• 2 pound broilers
• butter
• salt
• pepper
• paprika
• flour
• streaky bacon
• tomatoes
• green peppers
• a few small onions
• enough to barely reach top of rack water

Instructions

1. Prepare the broilers by splitting them down the back and cleaning thoroughly. Butter the chickens inside and out, then season with salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge with flour.
2. Place the chickens breast-side down on a low rack in a deep pan. Cover with slices of streaky bacon, shingling them well. Dredge the bacon with pepper and flour.
3. Arrange sliced tomatoes, shredded green peppers, and a few small parboiled onions around and over the chicken. Dot generously with lumps of butter that have been rolled in flour, distributing them all about the bacon.
4. Pour in enough water to barely reach the top of the rack. Cover the pan tightly and cook in a hot oven for about an hour.
5. After three-quarters of an hour, uncover the pan and add a half-cup more water—this will become the gravy. Cover again and finish cooking. The chickens should be brown all over but meltingly tender.
6. Transfer the chickens to a hot serving dish, keeping the bacon slices as intact as possible. Serve the vegetables separately and serve the pan gravy on the side. The vegetables can be omitted if desired.