New England Clam Chowder

One item we usually order during the cold winter months in a family-friendly restaurant is clam chowder. New Englang style clam chowder uses salt pork for the fat source traditionally (or so I have read), and is rich with the use of heavy cream. Hubby loves his with lots of saltine crackers. With the exception of my stepdaughter, who is bent to believe she is allergic to all seafood, our family l loves clam chowder.

I tried to recreate it at home as this is one of the comfort foods in this area. I based this recipe on Cooking For Engineer's site, and gained approval from my picky husband.



Ingredients:

3 tbsp oil (rendered fat from salt pork)
3 cans (6.5 oz minced clams in clam juice)
1 (8-oz) clam juice
1 big (1-lb or so) russet potato, diced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tbsp flour
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
dash of ground basil (optional)

Instructions:

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Drain clam juice off from cans. Set aside the juice.
Render oil from salt pork.
Sautee onion. Follow with diced potatoes and stir until potatoes are well coated with oil (this coating will help potatoes retain their shape and not easily crumble).
Sprinkle the flour and stir. Add the clam juice from draining, and the bottled one. Let boil. Season with salt and pepper (be careful as salt pork and saltine crackers are salty already).
Lower heat and simmer covered for about 20 minutes or until done, stirring occasionally to make sure potatoes don't stick to pan.
Add milk, heavy cream and clams, and heat without boiling (which will cause milk to coagulate and form clumps).
Enjoy with crumbled saltine crackers on top (or crumbled chicharon, like what my sons do).

(I served this tonight with potato peasant bread and fruit salad = combination of canned cocktail fruit, peaches, mandarin oranges, lychees, and palm seeds, topped with whipped cream.)

Lobster & Corn Chowder

As I mentioned earlier, I used my leftover lobster meat for chowder (my favorite food to make with lobster heads and smaller claws).

From lobster chowder

But since this time I had 3 leftover whole lobsters (that is, after I made my lobster roll for lunch the next day), I had a total of almost 2 lbs meat, and the chowder I came up with was enough for supper, and even for breakfast (I myself brought a bowl to work that night).
I got the idea and tweaked some from the recipe at epicurious. The tweaking depended on what I had on hand, as usual.

Ingredients:
2 lbs leftover lobster meat (previously boiled)
8 slices of smoked pork fat back, pan fried until crispy (I used this in place of bacon)
2 medium potatoes, diced
2 medium carrots, diced (smaller than potatoes)
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup celery stalks, sliced into 1/8 inches
4 cups frozen and thawed sweet corn kernels (I had mine from my garden; feel free to use canned)
6 cups lobster broth (prepared day before))
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
6 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp butter

Procedure:


Prepare lobster meat. Set aside in the fridge.

Purée 2 cups corn with 1 1/2 cups broth in processor until almost smooth.

Pan fry on medium heat the thin fat back slices (or bacon) until crisp. Place on paper towel to drain excess oil, crumble and set aside. Leave about 3 tbsp of oil drippings in the pan.

Cook partially the diced potatoes and corn. Doing this helps them retain their shape and prevents making them too starchy/pasty. Set aside.

Pour off and discard all but 3 tablespoons drippings from pot. Add onions to pot; sauté until light golden, about 5 minutes. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery; sauté until vegetables soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Add broth; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in corn puré, corn kernels and heavy cream; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove soup from heat; stir in sour cream.

Melt butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add lobster meat and sauté just until heated through, about 2 minutes. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish each serving with lobster pieces, crispy fat back (or bacon bits) and serve.