New England Clam Chowder →

Food memories from my childhood are some of my fondest memories. As a native New Englander who spent the summers of his early years near the Rhode Island shore digging for clams, crabbing, and surf fishing, I am somewhat opinionated about seafood. In those days my grandfather and I could gather a bushel basket of littlenecks and cherrystone clams in a few hours. As we shucked them, we ate our fill of the succulent, briny raw littlenecks, then my grandmother would turn the harvest into clam cakes (fritters) and delicious New England Clam Chowder; sometimes the clear version, but my favorite was creamy, briny chowder full of chopped clams, diced potatoes, onion, celery, and salt pork or bacon. In honor of those childhood memories, recently I decided to research clam chowder recipes to develop my own ideal version of New England Clam Chowder: no tough, tasteless, over-cooked clams, or thick, pasty soup you-can-stand-a-spoon-up-in for me. My quest was for a delicate, creamy soup full of tender, barely cooked clams, accompanied by the usual potatoes, salt pork (or bacon), and aromatic vegetables. The following recipe meets my gastro-geek standards thanks to food consultant J. Kenji López-Alt who taught me about the magic of emulsifying the broth to create a delicate, creamy soup base without using flour and when to add the chopped clams so they don’t end up tough and tasteless. Apart from the broth, I tweaked my recipe departing from López-Alt’s to meet my own culinary aesthetic. The link to the original López-Alt recipe can be found at the end of this post. If you cook at home, you don’t have to settle for less-than-perfect clam chowder. Here’s my version. Enjoy! 

New England Clam Chowder
Serves 4 as a main; 6 as a starter

Ingredients

• ¼ pound pancetta, salt pork, or slab bacon, cut into ¼ inch dice (Salt pork adds saltiness; bacon will add a smokey note to the chowder; pancetta is not traditional, but I like it in place of smokey bacon.)

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

• 2 stalks of celery, finely chopped (about 1 cup)

• 1 cup bottled clam juice

• 2 ½ -3 pounds live cherrystone or littleneck clams (1-1 ½ cups chopped. See *Notes)

• 1 quart whole milk

• 1 pound+ of russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes (You want about 4 cups of diced potatoes)

• 2 bay leaves

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (Optional: use a pinch of celery salt in place of the Kosher salt.)

• 1 cup heavy cream

• Oyster crackers, saltines, or croutons for serving

Preparation

1. Sauté the diced pancetta or bacon in a heavy-bottomed stock pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the fat has rendered, and the pork is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Add butter, onion, and celery. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened but not browned, about 4 minutes longer. Add the clam juice and stir to combine. (Note: if using chopped clams from a fish monger, in a separate pan, bring the bottled clam juice to a boil with a bay leaf, add the chopped clams and shut the heat off. Wait a minute and strain the clam juice into the saute reserving the clams for the last step.)

2. Add whole clams and increase heat to high. Cover and cook, opening the lid to stir occasionally, until clams begin to open, about 3 minutes. As clams open, remove them with tongs and transfer to a large bowl, keeping as many juices in the pot as possible and keeping the lid shut as much as possible. After 8 minutes, discard any clams that have not yet begun to open.

3. Reduce heat to medium-high and add the milk, potatoes, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt and a few turns of freshly ground black pepper to the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a bare simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are tender and just starting to break down, about 8-10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, remove the meat from the clamshells and chop it. Discard the empty shells (or sterilize them for a few minutes in boiling water and save them for your next batch of Baked Stuffed Clams). Transfer the chopped clams and as much juice as possible to a fine-mesh strainer set over a large bowl. Let the clams drain, then transfer the chopped clams to a separate bowl. Set both bowls aside.

5. Once the potatoes are tender, pour the entire mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into the bowl with the clam juice gently stirring the mixture to allow the liquids to pass through. Transfer the strained solids to the bowl with the chopped clams. You should end up with a white, semi-broken broth in the bowl underneath, and the chopped clams, potatoes, pancetta, and aromatics in a separate bowl.

6. Transfer the liquid to a blender and blend on medium-high speed until smooth and emulsified, about 2 minutes. Return the liquid and solids back to the Dutch oven. Add heavy cream and stir to combine. Reheat until well heated and simmering. (do not boil!) Taste and season with salt and pepper to suite your taste. Serve immediately with oyster crackers or Saltines.

Wine Pairing: Dry, white wines like Chablis, Vermentino, Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc

*Notes
For the best results, use live clams. If live clams are unavailable, skip steps 2 and 4. In step 6, add 1-1 ½ cups of chopped clams from your fishmonger, canned, or frozen clams to the chowder before heating through to serve.
Adapted from a recipe from: https://www.seriouseats.com/new-england-clam-chowder-recipe
J. Kenji López-Alt- food consultant to SeriousEats and NY Time food columnist
History:
https://www.thymemachinecuisine.com/single-post/2019/02/25/new-england-clam-chowder-the-history-of-the-name-origins-and-a-war
https://ictnews.org/archive/they-stole-our-soup-the-native-origins-of-new-england-clam-chowder

Cajun Bean Soup →

A common conundrum after cooking a bone-in ham is what to do with the ham bone and leftover ham. Problem solved! Loaded with healthy legumes, sofrito vegetables, and hearty spices, this soup makes good use of your leftover ham bone and some of the extra ham from that Easter Ham you cooked. Add some spicy smokey Andouille sausage to the mix and you’ve got a winner on your table!  Laissez le bon temps rouler! Bon appétit y’all!  

Cajun Bean Soup
Serves 8 

INGREDIENTS 

• Water - for soaking beans

• Pinch of baking soda + 1 teaspoon of salt

• 1 ½ pounds of 7 bean mix (or use 15 bean mix if you can find it; discard the seasoning packet)

• 1 large onion - chopped

• 1 large green bell pepper - chopped

• 2 stalks of celery - chopped

• 6 cloves garlic - finely chopped

• 8 cups chicken broth

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning (this gives you a mild-to-medium spicy heat: add more spice if you want more heat)

• 1 can (15-ounce) diced fire-roasted tomatoes - undrained

• 2 tablespoons tomato paste

• ¾ - 1 pound Andouille sausage - sliced

• 1 ham bone with ham on it or a ham-hock or 8 ounces of diced leftover ham

• 4 slices of bacon - cooked crisp and crumbled

• ½ cup chopped fresh parsley

• Hot sauce to taste (use your favorite hot sauce)

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper - to taste 

PREPARATION 

1. Approximately 1 hour before starting the slow cooker, bring a large saucepan with water to a boil. You want enough water in the pan so the beans will be covered by at least an inch of water. Rinse the beans and check for stones. Add the beans, a pinch of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water; turn off the heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour. Drain.

2. While the beans are soaking, in a large, heavy-bottom skillet, sauté the bacon until crispy and set aside on a paper towel. Brown the sausage and set it aside with the bacon.

3. In the same pan, sauté the onion, green bell pepper, celery, and garlic until barely tender scraping up any caramelized brown bits on the bottom of the pan.

4. Combine the beans, onion, green bell pepper, celery, garlic, chicken broth, bay leaves, and ham bone in a slow cooker. Cook 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low.

5. When the beans have approximately 1 hour to go on high or 2 hours to go on low, remove the ham bone and set it aside to cool so you can remove any ham left on the bone. You want about a cup of ham, so add diced ham to make a cup if necessary. Discard the bone.

6. Add the Cajun seasoning, tomatoes, tomato paste, sliced sausage, ham, and bacon to the slow cooker. Mix well, cover, and complete the slow cooker cycle.

7. Remove and discard the bay leaf. Adjust the salt and black pepper to taste and serve garnished with chopped parsley and hot sauce on the side. A good crusty bread for dipping is mandatory! 

Leftover soup can be kept covered in the fridge for about five days, or frozen for about three months.

Wine pairing: full-bodied off-dry white wines like Riesling, Viognier, Gewürztraminer, or Chenin blank pair well with this soup. You could also try a Pilsner or Lager beer, or a Porter or Brown Ale. Avoid overly hoppy beers.

Adapted from: https://www.fromachefskitchen.com/slow-cooker-cajun-15-bean-soup

Lobster Bisque →

For most of us, cooking lobster is an expensive splurge for a special occasion, so it makes sense to maximize the use of as much of the spiny crustacean as possible. Given the current price of lobsters, it’s hard to believe that they were once considered “cockroaches of the sea” and used as fertilizer on gardens and a cheap source of protein for poor folks, prisoners, and slaves. The first mention of bisque as a shellfish soup dates back to the 17th century. Bisque was not initially a fancy soup but contained finely crushed shells of whatever seafood was used, leading food historians to suggest that it was a fisherman’s dish, designed to get the most flavor out of ingredients at hand. It wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that lobster became regarded as the culinary delicacy that it is today. So enjoy your lobster rolls, Lobster Thermador, Lobster Pie, Lobster Risotto, or Homard Parfumé à L'absinthe, but at $10.-$15. (or more) a pound for live lobster, don’t throw away the carcasses! You can maximize your investment and double your pleasure by making delicious lobster bisque. This has been my go-to recipe for lobster bisque for many years. If two rich meals of lobster in a row are too much for you, the stock from this recipe can be frozen for future use before adding the cream. Bon appétit!

Lobster Bisque
about 6- ½ cup servings

Ingredients:

• 2 1-pound live lobsters
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and butter)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 large celery stalk, sliced
• 1 small carrot, sliced
• ½ fennel bulb with fronds
• ½ cup brandy
• ½ cup dry Sherry
• 4 cups fish stock or bottled clam juice
• 1 garlic head, cut in half crosswise
• 1 tomato, sliced
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 whole black peppercorns
• ¼ cup tomato paste
• ½ cup heavy cream (you can substitute half-and-half cream but it won’t be as creamy)
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon water

Preparation:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the lobsters headfirst and boil until cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using tongs, transfer the lobsters to a large bowl. Reserve 2 cups of cooking liquid. Cool the lobsters.

2. Working over a large bowl to catch juices, tear off the lobster tails and claws. Crack the tail and claw shells and remove the meat and set aside in the fridge for another meal or to add to the bisque. Coarsely chop the shells and bodies; transfer to a medium bowl. Reserve the juices from the lobster in a large bowl.

3. Heat olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add the lobster shells and bodies and sauté until the shells begin to brown. Add the onion and the next 8 ingredients. Mix in the brandy and Sherry. Boil until almost all liquid has evaporated, about 4 minutes. Add the fish stock, and reserved 2 cups of lobster cooking liquid and lobster juices, fresh herbs, and peppercorns, and simmer for 1 hour.

4. Strain the soup through a sieve set over a large saucepan, pressing firmly on solids to extract the juices. Whisk the tomato paste into the soup. Simmer until the soup is reduced to 3 cups, about 15 minutes. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

5. Add cream to the soup and simmer for 5 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in 1 tablespoon of water. Add to the soup and boil until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.

6. Optional: mix the chopped lobster meat into the soup and stir to heat through. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve with good crusty bread for dipping.

Source: 1997- https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/lobster-bisque-4092