Gerri’s Southern Chicken Pileau {Naptime Tales from the Trenches}

A Southern Table

Gerri is a southern girl through and through. A mom, wife and college student she leads a busy life (to say the least!) but still finds time for great food. Here she shares her recipe for Southern Chicken Pileau and the flood of warm family memories it brings.

Having grown up in the deep south, I am blessed to have a wonderful heritage.  Remembering my grandmother’s kitchen, I am drawn back into a time that is now long gone.  However, in my mind’s eye I can still hear, see, and smell the inviting aroma that floated out of her kitchen.  It was divine!  Countless times she would let me stand on my tiptoes in a chair away from the stove and watch her fry chicken in her “black spider” (cast iron frying pan).  It was almost hypnotizing, making it hard for me to look away.  Watching her make biscuits was like watching an artist sculpt a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.  Her hands would mold and shape the dough without any effort.  The warm vanilla fragrance that would permeate the entire house when she was making banana pudding was one I could recognize even blindfolded.  She had no formal education, but one would have to be schooled to cook with love the way she did.  I enjoyed her kitchen and her love for many, many years.  Even though she passed away in 2001, I keep her memory alive by cooking.

My dad was also a gifted, self-taught home cook.  A “daddy’s girl” is what I’ve been all my life and holding that simple title ensured special privileges.  Very often, his flat top stove held countless pots filled with love that he’d have made with me in mind.  Sadly, I no longer have my dad.  He passed away February 15, 2009 but I will forever cherish the priceless memories I have of him.

Today, I am following in my grandmother’s and my dad’s footsteps.  I, like them, cook with love.  One of my favorite dishes that I prepare for my family is a popular southern dish called “Chicken Pileau.”  It is like a hug in a pot.  It requires some work but well worth the effort.  Because I am a wife, mother, and full time college student, I tend to make fairly large portions in order to have leftovers.  It will be even better the next day.

I hope that this recipe will soon become a favorite of other households.  I urge everyone to make special memories with your families each and every day.