a taste of the south- chicken bog

Chicken bog is a South Carolina low country dish. No one really knows where the term "bog" comes from, but there are a few theories. One is that it is named after the area where it originated, the Pee Dee region, and its "boggy"nature, swamps and marshland. Some say its because it is a stew that contains wet, soggy rice (unlike Pilau), and is named a bog because the dish itself is boggy. Another dish a lot like bog is Pilau, another low country favorite. I'll show you a recipe for that another day. Culinary historian Damon Lee Fowler defines chicken bog as “a highly localized form of pilau, probably of African provenance, in the U.S. found only in South Carolina." Well, no matter if its a bog or soggy pilau, its darn tasty, and a true South Carolinian original dish. Here's how to make it:

Chicken Bog

Feeds a small army

1 (3-5 lb) chicken (cut into pieces)
1 pound smoked sausage
1/4 cup butter
2 tsps seasoning salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsps black pepper
pinch of salt
dash of garlic powder
3 bay leaves
8 cups water
3 cups white rice, rinsed well

Cut the sausage into 1/2 inch coins.

Combine the chicken, sausage, butter, seasonings, and bay leaves in a large stock pot. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 40 minutes at a low boil. **Note: I had chicken thighs in the fridge today, so I used those instead of a whole chicken.

Remove the chicken. It WILL be extremely hot, so be careful. Pick the meat from the bones of the chicken. Throw away the skin and bones.

Add the rice to the pot with the chicken broth and seasonings. Bring to a boil, stirring well.

Boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 10 more minutes or until the rice is done.

Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, return the chicken to the pot, mix well, and serve.

The best part about this meal is that it all cooks in one pot, meaning less cleanup, which I loooove. I like to serve with collards or green beans for a complete supper. This is also a great dish for parties and tailgates. 

a taste of the south-hoppin' john

Hoppin' John is a southern classic. It's basically just stewed black eyed peas and rice. You usually only hear about it around New Years, but down south we eat it year round. To read about why we eat it every January 1st check out my post: A Culinary History Lesson- New Year's Traditions.

Every family has a different recipe, and everyone thinks theirs is the best. I've never had bad hoppin' john, so its safe to say no matter which recipe you use it will turn out tasty. But one things for sure, no matter who is cooking it for you it will have black eyed peas, some form of pork (usually smoked, and usually ham hock), and rice (either cooked with or served over).

For this recipe I used fresh peas. Around the end of the year when the grocery stores put out all the New Years stuff the fresh will be on sale, and they are so much easier than using the dried ones. During the summer time when the peas are harvested you can usually find fresh ones at farmers markets and roadside stands too. But you could totally use dried beans if thats all you can find. Just soak overnight on the counter. One trick to making peas or beans is to hold off on the salt until the very end. Salting the beans too early will make for a tough bean, or so the wives tale goes.

This recipe isn't an exact science, and I swear it changes a little bit every time I make it, but these are the main ingredients (the only thing that really changes are the amounts), and this is the way that I made it on New Year's Day. This is a great dish for a big meal when you have a lot of stuff in the oven and a lot of prep work to do, because it sits on the back burner for a couple hours and takes care of itself.

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Hoppin' John
Feeds 6 as a main meal or 8-10 as a side dish

24 oz fresh shelled black eyed peas
one small green bell pepper, small dice
1/2 onion, small dice
1 stalk of celery, super small dice
one tomato, seeded and chopped (you could peel it too if you're an overachiever)
box of chicken stock
smoked ham hock
a few sprigs of thyme, 3-5
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt, to taste

Rinse the black eyed peas and pick them over for small rocks or bad peas.

Saute the veg on medium heat for about 10 minutes or until translucent and softened.

Add the rest of the ingredients, EXCEPT FOR THE SALT!!! Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for about an hour and a half. Now do the five bean (slash pea) test. Take out 5 beans and taste them. If all 5 are tender you are good to go, if not cook longer. Repeat. If all 5 beans pass the test you may salt. After salting I continue to cook at a low simmer until the beans start to look kind of creamy. This batch of mine sat on the stove for close to 2 hours. Fish out the thyme twigs before you serve to your guests. Serve over buttered rice. A recipe for which may be found here: Perfect White Rice Every Time.

one, two, buckle my shoe.

A buckle is a buttery, dense single-layer cake peppered with fruit (usually blueberries) and topped with a streusel. A lot like a coffee cake. And I love streusel. I think I am going to make it my new mission in life to put streusel on more things. This cake was a HIT! I made this cake for brunch before I started cooking New Years Day supper, and it was completely gone in just several hours. Awesome right out of the oven, but nothing to turn your nose up at when room temp either. 

The batter is extremely tight and really hard to mix the berries into and spread into the pan. Do not fret. Thats how it should be. Other than that its really simple to make. Heres how I did it:

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Blueberry Buckle

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated

Streusel

1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch table salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cubed into 8 pieces, softened but still cool

Cake

1 1/2 cups unbleached AP flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened but still cool

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temp

4 cups fresh blueberries, picked over for twigs and and bad berries

For the streusel- In a standing mixer fitted with a flat beater, combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt on low speed until well combined and no large chunks of brown sugar remain, about 45 seconds. Add butter and mix on low until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain, about 2 1/2 minutes.

Transfer streusel to small bowl and set aside.

For the cake: Adjust oven rack to lower middle position; preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter 9 inch round cake pan; dust pan with flour and knock out excess.

Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest at medium high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes; using rubber spatula, scrape down bowl. Beat in vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds.

With mixer running at medium speed, add eggs one at a time; beat until partially incorporated, then scrape down bowl and continue to beat until fully incorporated (mixture will appear broken).

With mixer running on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat until flour is almost fully incorporated. Take bowl off of the mixer; stir batter with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl, until no flour pockets remain and batter is homogenous. This batter is extremely heavy and thick and is really hard to stir. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed. This part is really tough. Don't freak out if you break a couple of blueberries and the batter gets a little purple looking in spots.

Transfer batter to prepared pan; with rubber spatula, using a pushing motion, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface.

Squeeze handful of streusel in hand to form a large cohesive clump; break up clump with fingers and sprinkle streusel evenly over batter.

 Repeat with remaining streusel.

Bake until a deep golden brown and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes.

Cool on wire rack 15-20 minutes. Cake will fall slightly as it cools. Run paring knife around sides of cake to loosen. Take cake out of pan and let cool just until warm or to room temperature, at least an hour.

Cut into wedges and serve.

a culinary history lesson- new year's traditions

New years day is a major food holiday down south. Every year we eat the same things and for good reason. The following items on a southern new years are an absolute must: black eyed peas, pork, greens (collards, mustards or turnips), and cornbread.

Pork- There are several theories and stories about why we eat pork on the first of the new year..they include:

• The story that I grew up hearing-- Pigs stand for progress because they are the only animal that "roots" forward. Chickens scratch backwards, cows stand still in the pasture, but hogs root forward. This is also the reason that we DO NOT eat chicken and beef on new years. Legend has it that if you eat chicken on the first you will be "scratching" for money all year long. 
• Another story about how pork stands for progress goes as follows: Hogs cannot turn their heads to look back, they must turn completely around to look at what is behind them. So... pigs are always looking forwards, never backwards.
• Hogs can also symbolize wealth. Back when these traditions started most all farmers had chickens, but only the wealthy farmer's could afford to have hogs. 

Black Eyed Peas are eaten for luck and prosperity in all of our endeavors in the new year. The practice of eating black eyed peas for luck dates back to the Civil War. Back then BEPs were used mainly for livestock feed. When Sherman and his troops pillaged and torched the South they also stole and destroyed most of the crops, but left behind the black eyed peas. Black eyed peas, humble but also filling, became a major food source for the surviving confederates. 

Greens symbolize paper money and cornbread stands for gold. Simple.

Starting like a week before new years all of the stores stock up on greens, cornbread mix, and smoked pork products. But no matter where you live you should be able to find all of the ingredients to make a traditional southern new years supper.

These beliefs are taken very seriously down here, so whey mess with tradition?

So for our New Year's supper I made:

Salt and Pepper Baby Back Ribs

Collards

Hoppin' John

Mac and Cheese

Plum Cornbread