New England Clam Chowder

Garnished with scallions, sriracha and worcestershire sauce

Someone I know just returned from a trip to Cape Cod. Made me think about what I like about the Cape. Clam Chowder - possibly my favorite soup (although when local corn is in season, corn chowder gives it a serious run for its money...). The weather has been pretty hot, but as soon as I started thinking about 'chowda' I had to make it. To hell with the heat - I want soup! This recipe is from 'On Cooking' by Sarah Labensky and Alan Hause.

I would usually buy fresh clams to make chowder, but this time, cash was a little tight, so I opted for canned clams instead. I was impressed with the results.

Start with about 1 quart of canned clams (I bought three 10 oz cans). Drain the liquid from the cans into a quart measuring cup. Do not discard it! Add water to make it up to a full quart. Reserve the clams.

Peel and dice 10 oz potatoes. Add to your quart of clam liquid in a pan and cook until tender. Drain liquid into a container, reserving it and the potatoes.

Render the fat from 4 oz of pancetta or bacon (I used pancetta, but bacon works just as well). That is to say, cook it in a stockpot on medium heat so that it releases its fat. Once it starts to brown, remove the meat and reserve. Add to the fat in the pan 8 oz diced onion and 4 oz diced celery. Saute until tender (but do not allow them to color much). Add 2 oz flour and stir until it turns light brown (this is called a blond roux). Add your clam liquid, a bay leaf and a small pinch of dried thyme, whisking as you go. Simmer for 20 minutes, whisking occasionally to break up any lumps.

Bring 2 cups milk and 0.5 cups cream to a boil. Add them to the soup. Stir. Add the potatoes, pancetta or bacon and clams and continue to heat gently to warm through. Season with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf and discard it.

Serve with freshly ground black pepper, Tabasco sauce (or Sriracha) and Worcestershire sauce on hand for your diners to add to taste. Other good accompaniments include fresh thyme, sliced scallions and oyster crackers. Enjoy!

Makes about 6-8 servings.

Note 1 - The original recipe used salt pork. I have never come across salt pork. If anyone else has, I would welcome their input on it. I used thin-sliced pancetta. I like the consistency of it in the soup.

Note 2 - Metric info: 1 quart = 950 ml; 10 oz = 280g; 4 oz = 115g; 8 oz = 230g; 2 oz = 60g; 2 cups = 470 ml; 0.5 cups = 120 ml.

Home-made Mayonnaise

We used to keep mayonnaise in our refrigerator - purchased mayo, usually Hellman's. But then we started switching over to organic food and we stopped buying it. Not that organic mayo doesn't exist, but we just stopped. Wanted some mayo the other day for a sandwich, so decided to make my own. It's very easy.

Put 1 egg yolk in a smallish bowl. Add a splash of lemon juice, a splash of water and a pinch of salt. Measure out 1 cup canola oil, and slowly drizzle it into the bowl as you whisk the egg mixture. Start very slowly with the oil, until you see it coming together, and then you can stream it in as you whisk. Expect to not use all of the oil - you can stop when you consider the mayo thick enough. Taste for seasoning - add more salt if desired, and use in place of store-bought mayo.

Note 1 - This is of course a raw-egg product. There is some risk of food borne illness, so it is not recommended for the very young, the very old or anyone with a compromised immune system.

Note 2 - As there are none of the stabilizers that you would find in purchased mayo, keep in the refrigerator and enjoy within a few days (opinions differ as to how long it will last, but definitely no more than a week).

Note 3 - You can substitute any other mild-flavored oil for canola.

Note 4 - Metric info: 1 cup = 240 ml.

Buttermilk Pancakes

I made a birthday cake for my significant other earlier this month. It was a banana-bread cake with bananas and custard between the layers and chocolate frosting over the cake. Caused a serious sugar rush. Anyway, the recipe required a small amount of buttermilk. Since I rarely use buttermilk, I decided to use the remainder to make pancakes, and found them to be better than my previous recipe... (Recipe adapted from the 'Joy of Cooking' by Irma S. Rombauer):

Take 2 bowls. In the larger bowl, place the following dry ingredients:
1 cup AP flour, 0.5 cups Whole-wheat flour, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 0.5 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt. Mix well.

In the smaller bowl, place the following wet ingredients:
1.5 cups buttermilk, 3 tbsp butter (melted), 2 eggs (beaten), 0.5 tsp vanilla extract. Stir until combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry bowl and mix gently with a fork until everything is just mixed together. Do not over-mix - lumps are fine. Allow the batter to rest for a few minutes and then preheat a large nonstick pan with a little butter. Once hot, ladle portions of batter into the pan. Cook until the tops begin to bubble, then flip and cook until the second side is golden. Remove to a platter and top with Vermont maple syrup!

Note 1 - If you do not have whole wheat flour, you can substitute any other kind of flour, or just use a total of 1.5 cups of all-purpose. I find that a little whole wheat flour gives the pancakes a nice texture.

Note 2 - Metric info: 1 cup = 240 ml; 0.5 cups = 120 ml; 1.5 cups = 360 ml.

Coffee Ice Cream

I'm back! No, I didn't stop cooking; I just stopped blogging. So, now I have some catching up to do...

This is one I made a while back, around the beginning of the month. I was intending to incorporate cardamom into it, a kind of 'Turkish coffee' ice cream, but forgot (I was going to toast the cardamom lightly and add it with the beans), so here's how it went (recipe from 'Second Helpings of Roast Chicken' by Simon Hopkinson):

Take 3.5 oz whole coffee beans (use any kind you like - I used Starbucks Italian Roast), and put in a saucepan with 9 floz milk and 1.5 oz brown sugar. Stir to help dissolve the sugar and bring the milk to a boil, then switch off the heat, cover the pan and allow to sit somewhere warm for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hr.

Strain the beans out of the milk and scald it (bring to just below a boil). Meanwhile, whisk 5 egg yolks with 2 oz brown sugar vigorously until pale yellow. Once the milk is ready, set up a metal bowl over ice (or in ice water) and pour a little hot milk into the yolks. Stir with a wooden spoon and quickly pour the egg mixture into the hot milk in the saucepan. Keep the heat on and stir constantly until the mixture coats the back of the wooden spoon (you should be able to draw a line in it with your finger). At this point, remove immediately from the heat and pour into the cold metal bowl, stirring in 7 floz heavy cream. Once cooled a little, chill in the refrigerator, then churn in an ice cream maker.

Enjoy!

Note 1 - This was not the first time I made this ice cream. The first time, I used different beans and the milk curdled as it came to a boil. I had to wash the beans and use fresh milk. This time, it worked fine though.

Note 2 - Metric info: Use 275ml milk, 100g beans, 50g sugar with the milk, 65g sugar with the yolks, and 200ml cream.