Southern Chicken Bog

Luke Murden, Whole Foods Cooking Coach, demoed this recipie in the summer of 2015. It is quite tasty so I kept it until I had an urge to go off the vegetarian reservation for a while. With 3 batches of Food52 Lentils and Sausage soup left, it seemed like a good time to make this classic.

I suspect that this recipe is good with brown Basmati rice but I recommend making it first with white rice as directed. The change to brown rice requires adjusting the cooking liquid up. Luke’s recipe is for 3 rice to 8 liquid. The normal white rice ratio is 1 to 2. The normal brown rice ratio is 1 to 3. The process of cooking the chicken may reduce the water some. Then again, there may be a reason this is called chicken bog. I don’t recall it being soupy as Luke made the demo in the pressure cooker and halves the liquid for this method.

This recipie is for 4 omnivor servings. To serve 8, double everything. I made mine with a whole softball sized sweet onion. Onion is good.

A 6 quart Dutch oven should hold either 4 or 8 servings. I made 4 so I wouldn’t be awash in leftovers.

Servings and Macronutrients

This recipe makes 4 to 5 servings of about 1 pint. I used UnderArmor’s My Fitness Pal to calculate the macronutrient analysis. Although the salt number is high, the dish did not taste salty.

Those concerned about salt can skip the Better Than Bouillon which is quite salty. The dish is fine without it as I discovered by accident.

Those concerned about fat can reduce the fat by removing the chicken skins before cooking. I’d recommend using the butter as directed. And do use real butter as it is trans-fat free.

• 855 Calories
• 37 grams fat
• 70 grams carbohydrates
• 55 grams protein
• 1700 mg salt
• 470 mg potassium

Ingredients

This list of ingredients is 1/2 that of Luke’s original recipe to feed 8. You can go long on the onion but observe the meat and rice amounts and liquid

• 4 chicken thighs, 1 per serving
• 1/2 pound (1/8 pound per serving) of smoked sausage
• 1/2 cup of chopped onion
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 cups chicken stock (I use Better Than Boullion)
• 1 1/2 cups white rice

Spices

This spice list makes 4 servings

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 3 bay leaves

Preparation

this recipe does not have a sauté step. I don’t believe it would hurt to sauté the onion, brown the chicken, and brown the sausage. If you do, do these processes in the Dutch oven using olive oil as needed.

1. Dice the onion
2. Dice the sausage into 1 cm pieces
3. In a stock pot or 6 quart Dutch oven add the water chicken, sausage, onion, butter, and seasonings. Cover the pot and bring to a low boil for 40 minutes.
4. Remove the chicken, let it cool, and pull it from the bones. Chop to 1-2 cm length if needed.
5. Discard the chicken bones and skin.
6. Add the rice to the pot, cover, and return to a boil for 10 minutes.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is done. Maybe 10 more minutes for white rice
8. Remove the bay leaves and fluff the rice using a fork. Stirring will make the rice gummy which is not Southern!
9. Return the chicken to the pot. Fiddle with the salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with your favorite adult beverage. I think a red wine would be best given the lavish amount of butter in this brew. A good malty or hoppy beer should work well also.

Review

Southern Chicken Bog proved easy to prepare following the directions above. In my preparation, I forgot to add the chicken Better Than Bouillon but the end result was still pretty tasty. It is important to use a smoked sausage as the smoky flavor makes the dish distinct. Serve with two vegetables and red wine or a hoppy beer.