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

Pasta e Fagioli (Pasta and Bean Soup) →

This dish came to me from my grandmother and falls into the category of “cucina povre” which literally means “poor kitchen” in Italian. It was a staple in the poor immigrant Italian community my grandmother lived in for much of her life. Simple, flavorful, and nourishing, it epitomizes “country” or “peasant” food. True to its humble origins, it is very adaptable to what you have on hand in your fridge or pantry. If you omit the pancetta, sausage, and parmesan, and substitute vegetable broth, it becomes vegetarian friendly. You can also throw in some chopped kale or spinach. Start by wilting the sofrito of onions, garlic, carrots, and celery. Add the tomatoes, beans, rosemary, and chicken (or vegetable) broth and bring to a boil. Add the ditalini or other small pasta shape and cook until “al dente” tender and you have a delicious one pot meal in about a half hour. Serve with a crusty bread to sop up the hearty broth.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

• ½ slice of pancetta

• 1/2 lb. spicy (or sweet) Italian sausage (or a smokey sausage like Portuguese Linguiça)

• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

• 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped

• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped

• 2 cups chopped kale or spinach (optional)

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• kosher salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 2 15-ounce cans Great Northern Beans (or Cannellini Beans)

• 1 15-ounce. can diced tomatoes

• 1+ 32-ounce box chicken broth

• 1 Bay leaf

• 2-3 sprigs rosemary, leaves finely chopped (2 tsp. dried rosemary)

• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed (optional, but recommended if you don’t use Italian sausage)

• 1 cup ditalini or small elbow pasta (or other small shape)

• Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

• Freshly chopped parsley, for garnish

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep pot over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sausage and cook, breaking up the sausage with a wooden spoon, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the onion, carrots, and celery and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 minute more.

3. Add the beans (with their liquid), diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Bay leaf and rosemary and any leafy greens you want to add.

4. Bring to a boil, then stir in the ditalini. Reduce heat to medium and cook until pasta is al dente tender, about 8 minutes.

5. Taste and adjust the salt and pepper to your taste. Serve in bowls garnished with Parmesan and parsley.

**Note: If your cooking a big pot of soup, you might prefer to cook the pasta in the amount of soup for each meal. Reheating the pasta in the soup multiple times results in over-cooked pasta that has absorbed a lot of your broth. Ladle out the number of serving for your meal and bring it to a boil. Add about a ½ cup of dried pasta for two people.

Similar to a recipe at: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/pasta-and-beans-pasta-e-fagioli-recipe-1939374

Clam Soup with Navy Beans and Pancetta

In New England, one of our traditional comfort foods is rich, creamy, sweet and briny Clam Chowder flavored with fresh Little Neck clams, cream, thyme, onions, garlic, diced potatoes, and salt pork or slab bacon. Here’s an easy to make, satisfying Mediterranean inspired alternative to the iconic New England chowder that uses a milk-free rich broth of clam juice and white wine; fresh chopped clams; pancetta, instead of bacon or salt pork; and white navy beans instead of potatoes. I hope you enjoy it with friends and family.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 small onion, finely chopped

• 1/3 cup diced pancetta

• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

• ½ c. day old bread cut into ½ “ croutons

• One 15-ounce can navy beans with their liquid

• 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (½ tsp. dried)

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 packet Sazón Goya with saffron

• 2 cups of clam juice (available from your fish monger or supermarket)

• ½ c. dry white wine

• Freshly ground pepper

• 1 3/4 - 2 cups chopped clams (if you don’t want to shuck your own clams, check in with your local fishmonger, or the fresh fish counter at your local supermarket.)

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

• crusty bread (optional)

*Note: you can also add 15-20 small Little Neck clams in their shells in place of the chopped clams. After you bring the soup to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and add the clams, cover and cook about 3 minutes or just until the shells open. Remove from the heat and discard any clams whose shells have not opened.

Preparation:

1. In a large deep skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil until shimmering, brown the croutons and set aside.
2. Wipe out the skillet, heat a tablespoon of olive oil until shimmering and brown the pancetta; set aside.
3. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and the onion and cook over moderately high heat until softened, about 3 minutes.
4. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. (don’t let it burn or it will be bitter)
5. Deglaze the skillet with the white wine making sure to scrape up any browned bits on the skillet, add the reserved clam juice, add the beans and their liquid along with the thyme, Sazón, pancetta, and bay leaf and bring to a boil.
6. Simmer the soup over low heat for 10 minutes; discard the bay leaf and sprigs of thyme.
7. Add the clams, bring the soup to a boil over high heat; reduce to low-heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
8. Sprinkle the soup with the croutons and parsley and serve.

You may want some good quality, crusty bread to help sop up the flavorful soup broth

An Italian Vermentino, Spanish Albariño, or Sauvignon Blanc or other medium bodied dry white wine pairs well with this dish.

Beef Stew →

This hearty, rich stew is kind of a cross between a traditional Beef Stew and a Boeuf Bourguignon. The best of both worlds. Serve with plenty of good crusty bread to sop up the delicious sauce. The flavor improves the next day.

Ingredients:
Serves 6-8

For the braised beef:

• 5 pounds boneless beef chuck (not lean), cut into 2-inch pieces

• 3 ounces pancetta, or slab bacon

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 carrots, quartered

• 3 celery ribs, quartered

• 2 medium onions, quartered

• 10 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed

• 3 tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 (750-ml) bottle of dry red wine (about 3 3/4 cups)

• 2 Turkish bay leaves or 1 California

• 2 thyme sprigs (or 1 teaspoon of dried thyme)

• 12 juniper berries (optional)

• 3 cups reduced-sodium beef broth

For the vegetables:

• 2 1/2 pounds small white boiling potatoes (or Russet potatoes peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes)

• 1 1/2 pounds of carrots peeled and cut diagonally into 1-inch slices.

• 1 cup of frozen peas (optional)

• parsley for garnish (optional)

Preparation:

Braise the beef: 
Preheat oven to 325°F with a rack in middle.

1. Pat the beef dry and season generously with salt and pepper.

2. Brown the pancetta in an oven-proof heavy pot like a dutch oven; remove the browned pancetta and set aside. Leave any of the flavorful fat that accumulated in the pot

3. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot and heat over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers.

4. Add the meat to the pot and brown the meat, in 3 batches, turning to brown on both sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer the meat to a platter and tent.

5. Reduce the heat to medium, then add carrots, celery, onions, and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and caramelized for about 12 minutes.

6. Push the vegetables to one side of the pot. Add tomato paste to the cleared area and cook the paste, stirring for 2 minutes, then stir into vegetables

7. Stir in the wine scraping up the brown crusty fond on the bottom of the pot. Add the bouquet garni (see note) of bay leaves, juniper berries, and thyme, and boil until the wine is reduced by about two-thirds, 10 to 12 minutes.

8. Add the broth to the pot along with the beef and any juices from the platter and bring to a simmer. Add more water if needed so the meat is covered with liquid. Cover and braise in the oven until the meat is very tender, about 2-2 1/2 hours.

9. While the beef braises, peel potatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes; slice carrots diagonally into 1-inch pieces.

10. After 2-2 1/2 hours, remove the pot from the oven. The meat should be very tender. Set a colander in a large bowl and strain the stew into the bowl. Return the pieces of meat to the pot along with the liquid, remove the bouquet garni, and add the remaining vegetables to a food processor or blender. Add some additional liquid if necessary in order to puree and liquify the vegetables.

11. Puree the vegetables and return the puree to the liquids and meat in the pot. (This will add richness and thicken the stew.) Let the cooking liquid stand for 10 minutes. If the stew is too thick, you can add additional water to bring the consistency of the stew to your preference.

12. Add the potatoes and carrots to the stew (make sure they are submerged) and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and carrots are fork tender, about 30 minutes. (Optional: add frozen peas for the last five minutes. Garnish with parsley before serving.)

13. Serve with crusty bread.

BEEF STEW in Tea Dust Glaze Porcelaine Bowl by Guy Matsuda @plainfieldpottery

*Note: a bouquet garni is a tied pouch of cheesecloth filled with fresh or dried aromatic herbs often used when braising to infuse flavor into a sauce or stew; to be removed before finishing the stew.

** Note: the stew improves in flavor if made a day ahead. Allow to cool, cover, and chill for up to 5 days. Reheat, covered, over medium heat or in a 350°F oven.

Wine pairing: A full-bodied red wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Rioja, Bordeaux, Haut Medoc, Barolo, Barbaresco, or Super-Tuscan complements this rich stew.