A simple one pot chicken, sausage and rice dish, regional to South Carolina and one that dates back to the 1700s, using a whole chicken and made super easy with the Instant Pot.

Instant Pot Chicken Bog

I was a bit intrigued when I first heard about bog. It's not something that is known much around here as far as I know. It's more of a regional dish born in South Carolina.

Every region seems to have some sort of chicken and rice dish like this though, and of course in my area of the Deep South, it's all about jambalaya!

So... what is the base difference between a Deep South jambalaya and bog?

A hot corn dish, Veracruz Corn may be served as either a side dish, great alongside your barbecue, or as a hot corn appetizer with crisp tortilla chips. Filled with goodness of fresh, off the cob corn, marinated in a fiery blend of Southwestern seasonings, tossed with veggies and then dressed with a chipotle aïoli and cheese, and passed under the broiler.

Veracruz Hot Corn Dip

I based this corn dish off of one that I saw in Eva Longoria's cookbook, Eva's Kitchen: Cooking with Love for Family and Friends. It sounded a little like maque choux, but with some spicy flair, which it most certainly has!

Veracruz corn was a popular dish on the menu at the now shuttered Beso Steakhouse in Hollywood, owned by Longoria, and though I believe it was considered a side dish on the menu, I really enjoyed it best as an appetizer, served hot with some crisp tortilla chips.

Piggy Mac Pulled Pork Mac and Cheese

Piggy Mac and Cheese made with leftover pulled pork, elbow noodles, a little onion, Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies and shredded cheese.

Piggy Mac and Cheese

Like everybody else, I love a slow-smoked pork butt that has been lovingly tended to and watched over for hours and hours... usually by somebody else in my case!

Let's face it. Most of us home cooks aren't going to be die hard Q'ers who spend all afternoon bent over a smoker for the perfection of slow-smoked meat, but we sure will enjoy it when somebody else does!

A fresh salsa of tomatoes, red onion, jalapeño, cilantro and lime, tossed with freshly poached wild American shrimp. Serve as a garnish to grilled foods, fish, on tacos, as a topping or as an appetizer with some sturdy tortilla chips.

Shrimp Salsa

You may have seen something like this around the net or social media referred to as shrimp ceviche. I guess that's okay, though a tad bit misleading, since ceviche is usually made using a raw fish marinated in heavy citrus juices.

This one, while it begins with raw shrimp, for this recipe, the shrimp is first poached, though it is an excellent salsa with roasted or grilled shrimp as well.

Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, these fried chicken livers get the classic southern fried chicken treatment, with a hot sauce enhanced buttermilk marinade, followed by a dredge in nicely seasoned flour and deep fried.

Southern-Style Fried Chicken Livers

I know that some of you ran the other way when you saw the title of this post, but y'all... just like a good beef liver and onions, I love fried chicken livers. But I do understand. The Cajun won't touch those either.

So let's just say that this post is only intended for the common lovers of fried chicken livers.

The rest of y'all, hang on!

A mixed garden salad made with romaine and iceberg lettuces, fresh parsley, Romano and bleu cheeses, lot of freshly cracked black pepper and a tangy, lemon-garlic vinaigrette.

Sensation Salad

This salad is a slight revision of the well-loved salad found in the Junior League of Baton Rouge's River Roads Recipes II cookbook.

While it became more widely known across Louisiana and her sister states from the cookbook, it actually originated as a creation of a now closed, Baton Rouge restaurant called Bob and Jake's, and soon took on a viral life of its own among other local area restaurants.

A quick skillet version of white beans and rice with ham, made with canned beans, the Trinity of vegetables and rice.

Ham and White Bean Skillet

Beans and rice are a big deal in the south, always have been really. Back in the day, they were an important part of the dietary needs of the people, because families were large and relatively poor, so any kind of bean was an inexpensive, nutritious and filling dish.

Mostly our beans are slow cooked from dried beans, on the top of the stove, and that's really the way I still love them best to this day. Don't get me wrong. Electronic pressure cookers like the Instant Pot do an excellent job and makes a great pot of beans from dried, but slow-stewed still rules in my book. Fresh frozen sometimes fill in, and though faster, still take a little care to make.  

A tender, fluffy and light classic buttermilk biscuit, made with the addition of an egg.

Egg Biscuits

So, as if I needed yet another entertainment source to distract me, I subscribed to Discovery+ and I have to say, I really enjoy the channel.

One of the first things that I did, was to binge watch one of the new featured shows, Magnolia Table, after which I felt compelled to pick up Joanna Gaines cookbooks. Now, a confession.

Potato salad, made with red and green onions, celery, jalapeno, cilantro and boiled eggs, tossed with a sour cream and avocado dressing.

Sour Cream Avocado Potato Salad

I am a big fan of potato salad, and while I make the more classic, southern-style potato salad most often, I love all different kinds, and I love experimenting too.

Well, except mustard potato salad.

And when I say mustard I mean like heavy mustard based, and not the little dab of mustard that I do like to include in mine. For some reason, that heavy mustard just doesn't appeal to my taste buds at all, though I know some folks absolutely love it.

A skillet meal of seasoned, sautéed chicken breasts, in a tomato basil pasta sauce with bow tie pasta and finished with Italian cheese.

Chicken in Tomato Basil Sauce with Bow Tie Pasta

When I don't know what I want to eat, much less cook, pasta always comes to the rescue! With some pantry basics and some good seasoning, you can whip up a delicious meal in short time. This is one of those meals.

A sweet potato salad, made with roasted sweet potatoes and marinated in an olive oil, apple cider and honey vinaigrette dressing.

Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

So, I ran across this book called The Sweet Magnolias Cookbook written by New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods, from one of those suggested previews on Amazon... which, of course, sent me down a huge rabbit hole.

I soon found out that it was a cookbook based on a book series, of which a Netflix original video series was also created, so of course, you know what was next, right?

Buttermilk drop biscuits, made with bacon drippings and cooked, crumbled bacon bits, baked in a cast iron pan.

Bacon Drop Biscuits

What's not to love about biscuits? I sure love them and probably a little too much, as I love a wide variety of them. Sometimes, I just get a craving for biscuits y'all. That's it. Biscuits. Just biscuits!

Yes, I understand that when you are new to biscuit making, they can be frustrating and a challenge to perfect, and frankly, there really is only one solution to that. Keep making biscuits! The old rule of practice makes perfect really does apply here.

From scratch, chicken and dumplings, made in a slow cooker and using a whole chicken for a homemade stock, a creamy roux base and drop dumplings.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Drop Dumplings

I love chicken and dumplings. Love it! It's one of my favorite dishes and that goes for any time of the year, not just winter.

While I do tend to follow the same basic guidelines, even with a variety of methods, I'm not married to any one of them. So many folks make chicken and dumplings one way all of their life, but I love playing around with it!

Fresh, wild caught shrimp, cooked in a buttery, well-seasoned sauce with mushrooms and served over pasta.

Shrimp Diane

I have no idea the origin of the name of Shrimp Diane, but what I can say, is that it is both super easy to make and mighty delicious!

It's really not anything like Steak Diane in comparison, so who knows how the name came about, though it appears to have been created by Chef Paul Prudhomme, who wrote this for only two servings, though you could absolutely stretch that out a number of ways.

Fresh asparagus, oven-roasted with an olive oil and lemon vinaigrette. Top with cheese and buttered bread crumbs for a gratin.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus is my number one spring veggie. Yes, I know that it's available year round these days, but out of season it's not the best in my little ole humble opinion. The spears are often tiny and tough, and not nearly as flavorful as when they are at peak and in season in April and May.

It's very easy to cook also, with my number one favorite being a butter-steamed skillet method, followed by oven roasted. Air frying is really good too!