Do you know what Chicken Bog is? Have you heard of it?

I’d imagine that unless you know someone from Horry (pronounced or-ee) County in South Carolina, you might not.

Chicken bog is THE dish of that corner of the state, so some would say. It’s a rice dish with chicken and smoked sausage, but unlike one you’ve ever had before. The name “bog” probably comes from the wetness of the dish, although some speculate that it may come from the bogginess of Horry County, according to discoversouthcarolina.com.

It is best eaten with a spoon and can be made any time of the year – even though it is very delicious and comforting in the colder months. There are recipes for it online now, but many who live here in Horry County learn how to make it from someone else.

A small part of this post is an ode to my former boss, Mr. Steve Robertson, who recently passed away. He was the publisher of the weekly newspaper I worked at for a number of years.

Mr. Steve was also the Loris Bog-off Champion one year and was generous enough to tell me how to make this iconic dish.

Here’s what you need.

Ingredients:

• 3-4 large chicken thighs or breast
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tsp. dried Rosemary
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried parsley
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1-2 stalk of celery, chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 mounded cup of white rice
• 1 smoke sausage
• Salt and pepper to taste

Let’s start with the stock for the chicken bog.

Place the chicken thighs or breast into a large sauce pan and cover with three cups of water. Add in all of the spices listed above and simmer until the chicken is cooked. Cool for 15 minutes and then take chicken out of the stock, dice and put back into the stock water.

In a separate large stock pot, sauté the onion and celery in olive oil for about 7-8 minutes and then add the garlic. Sauté together for another 2 minutes.

While the onion & celery are cooking, dice the smoked sausage into bite sized pieces.

Once the onion, celery and garlic have cooked for about 10 minutes, add in the diced sausage. Then, add in the mounded cup of rice and cook for 1 minute.

Then, pour in the stock and diced chicken, all at once.

Stir, bring the mixture to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes. You can check on the rice and stir during this time. It will not ruin the rice.

Taste for seasoning and rice done-ness. Serve in a bowl. Enjoy!

Other posts from Baking Through History:

• Great Grandma’s Cinnamon Rolls
• Ginger Cookies
• Fudge Nut Cookies
• Potato Chip Cookies
• Casserole Cookies
• A Series of Stories from Vintage Recipes
• Great Grandma’s Kuchen
• Chocolate Potato Candy (ew.)
• Baking Through History: Fry Bread Tacos
• How to bake my version of Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies in a whole new way
• How to make a delicious, hearty winter dinner of Pastie (meat pie)