Clam Fritters

I got this recipe many years ago while on a camping trip from the late Charley (Chicken) Fry. The clams were fresh because we had pulled them out of the bay that afternoon. It is especially memorable to me because when I got finished cooking I went to take the skillet off the stove and forgot that it was cast iron. I burnt the piss out of my hand. Lucky for me I was full of Dutch courage and it did not hurt too much until the next day. This is all that you will need.

First finely chop a whole onion.

Now mix together one egg, a cup of flour, 2 cans of clams, and the onion. Season with pepper.

Stir this into a batter.

Heat enough Canola oil over medium heat to cover a skillet. Add one heaping spoon full of batter to the skillet.

Fry on both sides until golden brown. Remove to a paper towel covered platter. Taste the fritter and correct the seasonings. When you've got it right finish them up.

And now you have the perfect food for dipping in your chowder.

Clam Chowder

When I was growing up I didn't know there was such a thing as white clam chowder. We always had the red kind. So that's what we're cooking today. This is what you'll need.

First take the whole tomatoes (about 28 ounces) and crush them in the pot. Then add about the same amount of tomato sauce.

Now coarsely chop half of a head of cabbage

and add it to the pot.

Mix this all together and place over medium low heat. Now begin frying up a skillet full of bacon.

Coarsely chop one whole onion.

Add this to the bacon drippings when the bacon has finished cooking.

Cook until they begin to loose their color (not brown). Drain the grease and add the onions and bacon to the pot.

Now's a good time to add a generous amount of black pepper. Do not add salt.

Add water to the pot and bring to a boil. I like to use the containers that the tomatoes came in to add the water.

Cover with the lid vented to release the steam and let it boil for about thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. It will have a tendency to stick, do not scrape the bottom. Now it's time to add some taters. I like to chop mine like this.

How many you ask? If you like taters add a lot. If you don't, don't. They will help thicken it though. I like to add the taters a few at a time so as not to kill the boil. Continue boiling for another twenty minutes or so or until the taters begin to be done. Now for the fun part.

Now you can use canned clams if you like but you just haven't lived until you've cleaned a big old chowder clam. I like to use about a dozen of them. First I put them in a sealed bag in the freezer for an hour or so. This will kill them and make them easier to open. Make sure you save the juice.

As I clean the clams I cut them up and place in a smaller bowl.

These go into the pot. I then carefully pour off the juice leaving the sediment behind.

Now this goes into the pot. Bring it back up to a boil for a few minutes just because you can. Raw seafood and all that. Next you want to adjust the salt. You never know for sure how salty the clams will be.

And now it's ready. I like to serve mine with clam fritters.

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!

Pork Barbecue II

OK, sometimes it's just not convenient to grill but you still have a hankering for some butt. Hell, you might as well cook your whole meal at once. Pull out the 'ol crockpot and cover the bottom with some taters.

Pour a little barbecue sauce over 'em. Add some green beans if you like(optional).

Now add a pork butt. This one is five pounds.

And cover it on all sides with barbecue sauce.

Put the lid on. Set the temperature on low. Go find something to do for eight or ten hours.

And this is what you'll end up with. Add more barbecue sauce to taste. You won't believe the taters!

Pork Barbecue

Labor Day weekend is right around the corner and is traditionally a time for friends and family to get together for a cook out. Now if you've got enough friends and family someone might be cooking a whole pig (in Florida it's called a pig roast; in Carolina it's a pig pickin) But maybe you're not entertaining that many folks but you still want that good smokey flavor. Enter the pork butt......Oh you bunch of perverts!

We like to use a six or seven pound bone in pork butt. First salt and pepper your butt.

All over.

And it's ready to throw on the grill.

Let it sear for about five minutes, then flip it over.

Now baste the seared side with a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water.

Repeat until all sides have been seared. Add hickory chips that have been soaked in water for at least twenty minutes to the outside edge of the coals.

Now turn and baste every ten minutes or so. Add hickory chips to the outside coals as needed.

After an hour or so start checking the temperature. Add more charcoal if needed. Now would be the time to quit basting with the vinegar mixture and switch to a vinegar based barbecue sauce.

You want to achieve an internal temperature of about 150-155. Then it's time to take it up.

Let the meat rest for at least ten minutes. The temperature will rise to 160-165. This is just right. I don't like under done pork but I don't want it to dry out either. It took about two hours to cook this butt from the time I put it on the grill until the time I took it off. Cooking times will vary, ALWAYS use a meat thermometer. Now it's time to carve and serve.

Dress with additional barbecue sauce to taste. Makes for great barbecue sandwiches also!