Recipe: Chicken Bog

CHICKEN BOG
(serves 10)

BUY:
1 5 to 6 lb fat hen
1 small onion (about the size of a lemon or smaller)
1 small green bell pepper
1 1/2 lb smoked sausage
1 stick butter (1/4 lb.)
2 lb. long grain white rice (DO NOT GET INSTANT RICE!)
1/4 lb bacon Salt
Black Pepper

You will need a six quart heavy aluminum pot with top - (Use top while cooking all phases except bacon.)

TO COOK:
Put chicken in pot; cover it with hot water (be sure there is enough water so that there will be at least six cups of broth after cooking chicken); bring water to a boil, cut stove down so that water just continues to boil and cook until chicken is very tender (usually at least an hour or more).

While chicken is cooking: (1) Slice and chop one and bell pepper into very small pieces (2) Put 4 cups of rice into a bowl and cover with cold water from spigot and let soak When chicken is very tender, take from stove and let cool until you can handle the chicken; take chicken from pot; pull meat from bones in large pieces (do not cut up); discard fat and heavy skin. Pour broth from pot into a bowl (if chicken was very fat and broth is very fat, pour off about 1 cup of fat from broth).

Wash pot; put bacon in pot and cook slowly until bacon is crisp; take bacon from pot and drain; leave bacon grease in pot; put in chopped onion and green pepper and brown slightly; add 6 cups chicken broth to pot; season to taste with salt and pepper (at least a tablespoon of each -- use a heavy hand since rice will absorb salt); cut stove to high and bring broth to a boil; put chicken in pot; drain rice and put rice in pot; slice sausage in 1/2" pieces, add sausage to chicken mixture; put stick of butter in pot; mix well; cut stove to low and cook very slowly for about an hour. Stir as seldom as possible, since stirring makes the rice gooey. When rice is tender and has absorbed the liquids, it is done and can be removed from stove.

Serve hot; you can crumble bacon and put on the top of serving or not, depending on taste. Chicken bog can be kept in refrigerator and reheated or it can be frozen and later reheated.