Chicken Bog

Nothing sez Southern cooking like a chicken bog. This dish probably originated in the low country of South Carolina but you'll see it in various forms from Georgia through the Carolinas. This is all that you will need for my version.

This is a five pound fryer and the sausage is mild Italian that I grilled the previous day while I was cooking something else. You can use any sausage that you like (Kielbasa works well) and you don't have to grill it if it has been precooked. Just be careful with the salt. Traditionally you would also use a whole chopped onion but I choose not to. Do some folks add celery and carrots? Yes, but I don't.

 First, cut up the chicken, place in a five quart pot, and cover with water. I usually remove the skin from most of the chicken. Add up to a tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil.

Cover and slow boil the chicken for fifteen minutes. Chop the sausage.

After fifteen minutes add the sausage to the pot. Bring back to a boil and cook for five minutes. Remove from the heat. Remove the meat from the broth and let cool. Debone the chicken.

Add two cups of rice to the broth. Bring to a slow boil and cook covered for twenty minutes.

Reduce the heat to low and add the chicken and sausage.

Cover and cook over low heat until the liquid is absorbed.

Add a generous amount of black pepper.

And serve.

Now that will keep you warm on a cold day!