Chicken Bog and Fried Okra..... Sunday Dinner!

Chicken Bog and Fried Okra

Ok, your probably saying "Chicken Bog"! WTH..... Well it is amazing. Today, a friend of my mothers stopped by with this huge bage of fresh okra. I was definetly thinking fried okra today, but what else to go with it. My mother said "use that fresh chicken up in the refigerator" and I knew we had some good smoked sausage, so I decided on chicken bog. Chicken Bog is a chicken and rice dish from the Pee Dee area of South Carolina. Here is the interesting history of chicken bog and my version of the recipe. Enjoy..........

Chicken Bog

A real Southern gourmet delight with a colorful history.
Sandlapper magazine - January, 1968 - By: Edward B. Borden

The dish looks as if the cook went on a binge the night before, but legend has it one Yankee officer liked it so much he switched uniforms. It's called Chicken Bog, and it's a conglomeration of rice spices and chicken, topped with bacon. To Pee Dee natives, the dish is as traditional on Fourth of July and other holidays as barbecue and cole slaw is to the rest of the south.

A distant, but more savory cousin of pilau, Chicken Bog combines the best qualities of both chicken & rice. Cooked properly, the chicken is juicy and tender and piqued with spices. The rice assumes the flavor of the chicken and other ingredients, and in best Southern style, the grains don't stick together. Chicken Bog apparently gets it's name because the "chicken is bogged in rice." An out-of-stater, who now claims South Carolina as her home, however claims it is named so because it is a "boggy, soggy mess." (It's a favorite dish of hers however.)

The recipe is liked by many Palmetto State residents because it is easy to prepare; it can accommodate large crowds (10 or more people); and can be served formally or informally. One Darlington native remembers when men cooked Chicken Bog on the banks of the Pee Dee River in big black iron pots and served it with butter beans, artichoke relish, and tomatoes. "That's all we had on holidays," she recalls, "and it was the best thing ever." Old-timers believe that is probably had its origin years ago at the tobacco barns or warehouses since it was served traditionally at the barn supper, usually held at the season.

A well known cook of this dish is Mrs. M. Chisollm Wallace of Florence's Red Doe Plantation. Mrs. Wallace's recipe has been carefully reproduced here so that this specialty dish can be enjoyed by all sandlappers. She says, "We like it. With a little bit of cole slaw, it's a meal in itself."


Ingredients

For the stock

1 5lb to 6 lb fat hen
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1 small onion chopped
1 large carrot chopped
1 bay leaf
2 sage laeves
a pinch of salt and pepper

For the Bog

2 small onions, chopped
1 large green bell pepper,chopped
3 stalks of cerlery, chopped
1/4 lb bacon
1 pound of good smoked sausage, sliced into rounds about 1/4" thick
2 tsp garlic salt
1 rounded tbsp paprika
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano
6 1/2 cups of chicken stock
3 cups Carolina Plantation Rice (if you can find it) or any long grained rice
salt and black pepper

Method

Use a heavy aluminum pot with lid

Put chicken, mirepoix, herbs, salt and pepper in pot and cover with hot water. Be sure there is enough water so that there will be at least six cups of stock after cooking chicken. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is very tender (an hour or more)
While the chicken is cooking chop onions, bell pepper and celery into small pieces.
When chicken is very tender, remove pot from stove and let cool until the chicken can be handled.
Take chicken from pot, and pull meat from bones in large pieces; do not cut it up. Discarding skin.
Pour broth from pot into a bowl, skimming as much fat off the stock a possible.
Wash pot, then put bacon in pot and cook slowly until bacon is crisp.
Take bacon from pot and drain leaving bacon fat in pot.
Add smoked sausage and cook until sausage is golden.
Put in chopped onion, green pepper, celery, garlic salt, paprika, oregano and brown slightly.
Add the pulled chicken to pot and add 6 cups chicken stock, season to taste with salt and pepper.
Taste your stock at this point because your rice will taste like your stock does, so season accordingly.
Increase heat, bringing stock to a boil and add rice to pot, bring back to a boil, cover with lid and reduce heat to low and simmer slowly for about twenty minutes.

To avoid gooey rice, Do not stir or lift lid during cooking time!
When rice is tender and has absorbed the liquids, remove from stove. Serve hot with crumbled bacon if you like.