Chicken and Rice cooked in the Crock Pot makes enough food for eight servings. This recipe comes to you from Mandy Rivers, the creator of SouthYourMouth! She says, “This is an easy slow cooker recipe for a Carolina favorite made with tender stewed chicken and long grain rice. No precooking the chicken and no instant rice. Everything cooks in the crock pot!  

From a reader in Georgia, we have Hamburger Gravy. This is a wonderfully quick meal to put on the table, and this recipe is delicious with the chopped veggies and seasonings. Add a pot of rice that you can do in just a few minutes, and you have supper all ready for your family. 

From Hearty Country Cooking, by Mark S. Sohn, here is Buttermilk Corn Bread (Skillet Corn Bread). He rates this recipe as easy, with only five ingredients. This corn bread tastes of buttermilk, a constant favorite of mountain cooks. Either bake skillet corn bread in the oven, as directed below, or fry it on the stovetop. If you fry it on the stove, divide the recipe between two skillets so it won’t be too thick. 

In his Good Eats show titled, “Peanut Gallery,” Alton Brown gives instructions for cooking Boiled Peanuts, a food that is considered a treat in the deep south… and beyond. It is one of those items that “you can’t eat just one!” This recipe will yield about 4 pounds in the shell and 2 pounds unshelled. Alton Brown uses Virginia or Valencia peanuts, and he calls for them in his recipe. You can find raw in-the-shell peanuts in your grocery store. 

We have Peanut Brittle from Paths of Sunshine Cookbook. A candy maker from Illinois, Geoge Smith, is credited with inventing peanut brittle when he accidentally added baking soda to a batch of peanut candy, causing it to become brittle and crunchy. And don’t we just love it that way?!  

SOUTHERN STYLE CROCK POT CHICKEN & RICE 
From Mandy Rivers’ “SouthYourMouth” 

INGREDIENTS: 
3 large chicken breasts 
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter 
4 cups chicken broth 
1 can cream of celery soup 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon pepper 
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 
1/2 teaspoon paprika 
2 cups long grain rice, uncooked 

DIRECTIONS:  
1) Spray the inside of a crock pot with cooking spray; then place chicken in the bottom. 2) Cut butter into 6-8 pieces, then arrange on top of chicken. 3) Combine broth, soup, salt and remaining seasoning in a mixing bowl, then stir until smooth. Pour over chicken. 4) Cook on HIGH for 3 hours or LOW for 6 hours. 5) If chicken was cooked on LOW, increase temperature to HIGH. Keep crock pot covered at all times to keep heat in. The rice cooks best when starting with HOT liquids. 6) Remove chicken from crock pot, then shred with two forks. Add chicken and uncooked rice to crock pot; then cook on HIGH for 45 minutes. 7) Using a fork, stir rice, scraping the bottom and sides of the crock pot, once every 15 minutes. DO NOT over-stir the rice or it will break down and become gummy. DO NOT open the crock pot more than necessary. 8) Check the rice after 45 minutes. My crock pot will cook rice in 45 minutes, but all crock pots are different. Continue cooking for 15-20 minutes longer if needed until rice is tender. 9) When ready to serve, stir once more with fork to fluff the rice. Serve with hot sauce if desired. 

HAMBURGER GRAVY 
Recipe from Eva Henke, Reader 

INGREDIENTS: 
1 pound lean ground beef browned in frying pan 
1 big onion chopped, added to frying pan 
Two stalks celery with some green leaves chopped added 
1/3 of a large green or multi-colored peppers chopped added 
One can sliced mushrooms  
Season with: Salt, coarse black pepper, teeny bit cayenne, garlic, granulated garlic 
1+ cup water 
1 heaping TBS corn starch 
1 TBS beef stock added 
Cook until done 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Brown the ground beef in a large frying pan. 2) Then add the chopped onion, celery with a little bit of green leaves, chopped pepper, and a can of sliced mushrooms. Brown well and add seasonings along with water and corn starch blended well, along with a tablespoon of beef stock. Mix well and cook until thickened. Serve over rice. 

BUTTERMILK CORN BREAD (SKILLET CORN BREAD) 
From Hearty Country Cooking by Mark S. Sohn 

INGREDIENTS: 
2 tablespoons stoneground cornmeal 
2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix 
1 teaspoon salt 
1 egg 
2 cups buttermilk 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a heavy 10-inch cast-iron skillet. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of stone-ground cornmeal on the bottom and place the pan in the oven. 2) In a large mixing bowl, combine the self-rising cornmeal and the salt. Make a well in the center and whisk in the egg and the buttermilk. Pour the batter into the hot skillet. 3) Bake for 30 minutes, and brown the top under the broiler for 1 minute. Remove from the oven and turn the corn bread out of the skillet onto a wire rack to cool. Cut into wedges and serve. 

Note: As a healthy choice, omit the salt. The self-rising cornmeal contains salt. In place of bacon grease (if you have chosen to use it on your skillet), use nonstick cooking spray. Notice that the recipe does not have any added oil. 

SKILLET CORN BREAD:  
To the above recipe, add 1-1/4 cups cracklings. Bake as muffins, sticks, or a pone* and adjust the baking time according to your pan size. *A pone is a loaf or oval-shaped cake of any type of bread, especially corn bread. 

ALTON BROWN’S BOILED PEANUTS 
Courtesy of Alton Brown  

INGREDIENTS: 
2 pounds in-shell raw Virginia or Valencia peanuts 
3 ounces kosher salt 
3 gallons water 

DIRECTIONS: 
1) Wash the peanuts in cool water until the water runs clear. Soak in cool water for 30 minutes to loosen any remaining dirt. 2) Drain and rinse the peanuts. Add the peanuts to a 12-quart pot along with the salt and 3 gallons of water. Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours. Check the texture of the peanut at this point for doneness. When done, boiled peanuts should have a similar texture to a cooked dry bean. It should hold its shape but not crunch when bitten. Add more water throughout the cooking process, if needed. If necessary, continue cooking for 3 to 4 hours longer. 3) Drain the peanuts and store in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. 4) Cook’s note: The cooking time can vary greatly depending on how fresh the peanuts are. The fresher the peanut, the less time it will take to cook. 

PEANUT BRITTLE 
From Paths of Sunshine Cookbook 

INGREDIENTS: 
2 cups sugar 
1 cup light corn syrup 
1/2 cup water 
2 cups raw peanuts 
1 teaspoon butter 
1 teaspoon vanilla (wait until end of cooking cycle) 
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda (wait until end of cooking cycle) 

DIRECTIONS: 
Cook sugar, corn syrup and water until soft ball stage (238 degrees on candy thermometer). Add peanuts and butter. Cook to hard crack (290 degrees on candy thermometer). Brittle will be golden brown. Add vanilla, mix. Add soda and pour at once onto a buttered cookie sheet. Break into pieces when cool. Variation: Broken pieces of pecans may be substituted for peanuts.