Squirrel X's Culinary Miscellany!
rebecca's clam chowder
Hey, y'all!
Thanks for stoppin' by to visit my cookin' diary.
I hope you enjoy the recipes.
Got your spatulas ready?
"Make anything with love, and BAM! It's a beautiful meal."
__Emeril Lagasse
"Who could ever weary of moonlit nights and well-cooked rice?"
__Japanese proverb
"What I love about cooking is that after a hard day,
there is something comforting about the fact that
if you melt butter and add flour, then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing.
It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure!"
__Nora Ephron
"A good cook is like a sorceress who dispenses happiness."
__Elsa Schiaparelli
"Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work
in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent,
so is the ballet. "
__Julia Child
"Cooking is a creation."
__Piero Selvaggio
"'Tis an ill cook that cannot lick his own fingers."
__William Shakespeare
This recipe comes from my friend Rachel's mama.
She generally uses fresh clams, but canned will work just as well.
Rebecca's Clam Chowder
Ingredients:
6 dozen hard shell clams, shucked, with juices reserved
-or- 4 cups canned clams, chopped
4 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2" cubes
4 ounces bacon, diced
2 cups onions, minced
4 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
salt and black pepper to taste
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
Instructions:
1) If you're usin' fresh fresh clams, separate the soft parts from the surroundin' hard parts. Chop the hard parts into tiny pieces and set aside. Cut the soft parts in half and set those aside too in a separate dish. Strain the clam juice through two layers of cheesecloth and set aside. If you're usin' canned clams: drain the clams through a fine sieve over a bowl and reserve the liquid.
2) Cube potatoes and set aside.
3) Heat a large skillet over low heat. Saut� the bacon 'til crisp
and lightly browned, then remove from pan and dran.
4) Add the 2 cups of chopped onion to the bacon fat
you've got left in the skillet.
5) Turn the heat up to medium and saut� the onions in bacon fat 'til they're translucent but not browned.
6) Dump the contents of the skillet in to a stew kettle.
7) Turn up the heat, and when the kettle is very hot, stir in the reserved clam juice and the chopped fresh clams, milk and potatoes.
[If you're usin' canned clams --- don't add 'em yet! This is not the time.]
8) Stir constantly for a minute or two, then cover and simmer for ten to fifteen minutes, 'til the potatoes are tender.
9) Stir in the reserved soft parts of the fresh clams or the canned clams.
[Now's the time!].
10) Dice cooked bacon strips and add bacon to the chowder.
11) Add the heavy cream and simmer for four minutes.
12) Add the seasoned salt, regular salt, and black pepper accordin'
to taste.
13) Simmer for another minute or two.
14) Turn off the heat and let the chowder sit for two hours.
It'll thicken quite a bit durin' those two hours, but don't worry.
It's supposed to do that.
15) Just before you serve, re-heat the chowder over medium heat.
Once it's hot, pull the kettle off the burner and start ladlin'.
Put a dollop of butter on top of each bowl.
and the best of intentions for whoever wants to try 'em,
but if somethin' goes wrong, don't blame the varmint.*
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