Christmas Clam Chili Chowder Food

CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place the clams in a pot large enough to hold them comfortably and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain the clams and rinse with cold running water several times. (You can do this up to 7 million times and you will never remove all the sand. Let this be a lesson in life to you.)
• Place the cleaned clams in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot and add enough wine to go about halfway up the clams, about the whole bottle. Tie the thyme, oregano and bay leaves in a bundle and add to the pot. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam until the clams open completely, 15 to 20 minutes, or about 8 minutes after the liquid boils. Once the clams are all opened, remove them with a slotted spoon to a sheet pan to cool for a few minutes. Strain the clam broth through a fine strainer, reserving the liquid.
• Put a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once heated, add the guanciale and prosciutto and begin to render, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove some pieces of crispy prosciutto for garnish, if possible. If not, move on. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pot and gently sweat over medium-low heat until they begin to soften up, about 3 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and cook to allow more fat to render from the prosciutto and guanciale and for the vegetables to fully soften, another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the clams from the shells and chop roughly; don't turn them into dust-big pieces are good. Add the clams and the Calabrian chile paste to the potato pot and add about two-thirds of the reserved clam broth. Let the chowder begin to gently heat up and come to a simmer. Once at a simmer, add the heavy cream, more or less depending on your desired taste; for brothy, add a smaller amount of the cream. Always taste the batch; it may need a touch of sea salt, it may not-some clams are saltier than others.
• To serve, place a well-proportioned ladle of chowder in a bowl and garnish with some celery leaves, reserved crispy prosciutto (if any) and cracked black pepper.

MY BEST CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
• Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
• Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

THE BEST CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 4 cups water, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open after 15 to 20 minutes should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. Remove clams from shells, and set aside as well.
• Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add butter, and turn heat to medium-low. Add bacon or salt pork, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pork has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove pork from fat, and set aside.
• Add the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes and wine, and continue cooking until wine has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften, approximately 5 minutes. Add enough clam broth to just cover the potatoes, approximately 3 cups, reserving the rest for another use. Add the thyme and the bay leaf.
• Partly cover the pot, and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop the clams into bits about the size of the bacon dice.
• When potatoes are tender, add cream and stir in chopped clams and reserved bacon. Add black pepper to taste. Let come to a simmer, and remove from heat. (Do not let chowder come to a full boil.) Fish out the thyme and the bay leaf, and discard.
• The chowder should be allowed to sit for a while to cure. Reheat it to a bare simmer before serving, then garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with oyster crackers.

CHRISTMAS CHOWDER

Steps:

• Pour 1 inch of water into a pot large enough to contain all the lobsters. Bring the water to a full boil. Remove the bands from the lobsters' claws and place them on their backs over the boiling water. Cover the pot tightly, and steam over high heat about 3 minutes. Quickly remove the lobsters from the pot and chill them rapidly by plunging them into a basin filled with ice and water. Set a wire strainer over a mixing bowl. Twist the tails off the lobsters over the strainer to catch their juices. Shell the lobster tails and claws over the strainer. Cut the tails into 4 quarters, leave the claw and knuckle meats whole, and reserve the lobster meat in a refrigerator.
• Peel the potatoes, split each into 4 wedges, and slice the wedges into 1/2-inch slices. In a large non-reacting soup pot, cook the diced bacon over moderate heat until golden and nearly crisp. Pour off all but about a generous tablespoon of the fat. Add the diced leeks, stir, and cook about 2 minutes. Add the potatoes, stir, cover the pot, and continue cooking over moderate heat, stirring frequently to prevent browning, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes depending upon the potato variety and the thickness of the slices. (Chef's Note: I like to mash some of the potatoes with a fork to give the chowder a luxurious but rustic texture, but good mealy potatoes, such as russets, will release some of their substance into the broth, and this step may be unnecessary.) Add the strained lobster juices and enough water, lobster or fish stock, to just cover the vegetables. Simmer 4 or 5 minutes. Keep the chowder base hot as you prepare the lobster meat and cream enrichment.
• Heat the butter in a wide skillet. Add the lobster meat, season with black pepper, and saute over moderate heat 3 or 4 minutes until the meat is firm, opaque, and pink. Pour in the heavy cream, and rapidly bring it to a simmer. Pour the lobster and cream mixture into the chowder base, and stir gently to combine. Taste for seasonings, and adjust with sea salt (preferably from Maine), plenty of fresh-milled black pepper, and a pinch of chipotle or cayenne pepper. Off heat, cover the pot and allow the chowder to ripen for 15 or 20 minutes before serving. Ladle into warmed soup plates, and sprinkle snipped chives over each serving. Accompany with plenty of warmed common crackers.

CHRISTMAS CLAM CHILI CHOWDER

Steps:

• Cook the bacon and remove from pan, reserving the drippings.
• Saute the onions and fresh Thyme on a medium heat in the bacon drippings, till the onions are translucent, but watch the heat. Fresh Thyme burns easily. Then, add 1/3 cup of the Chicken stock and simmer the onion/thyme mixture, covered, to further bring out the flavor, until all the liquid cooks off.
• Using a large, heavy saucepan, or stockpot over medium heat, blend the olive oil and flour to create a sauce, but turn down the heat, flour burns easily. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly. Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute.
• Gradually stir in the chicken broth and red wine vinegar into the sauce mixture. Bring to a gentle boil to allow the vinegar to cook down but still stirring constantly.
• Now add in the fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, okra, Rotel, red chile peppers, cooked rice, Cajun seasoning, and the Onion/Thyme mixture to the stockpot and simmer everything for at least 40 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally.
• Crumbled bacon, cooked andoulle sausage and clams are the last ingredients to be added, and then simmered for 20 minutes more.
• Once the soup is ladled into bowls, sprinkle black pepper, and place some fresh Thyme leaves on top as a garnish.

CINDY'S AWESOME CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place the bacon in a large pot and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until crisped and browned, about 10 minutes. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, leaving the drippings in the pot. Set the bacon aside. Stir the potatoes and carrots into the bacon fat. Season with salt and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
• Pour the juice from the clams into the pot, and add enough water to just cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Gently stir the leek soup mix into the potatoes until no lumps of soup remain. Stir in the clams, reserved bacon, and half-and-half cream. Cook and stir until the chowder returns to a simmer and thickens, about 10 minutes more.

MANHATTAN-STYLE CLAM CHOWDER WITH CHILIES

Steps:

• Fry bacon in heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat until just beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. Add onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf and thyme and cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add stewed tomatoes with their juices, clam juice, tomato sauce, potato and chilies. Reduce heat and simmer until potato is very tender, about 40 minutes. Add clams with juices and heat through. Season chowder to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls and serve.

GREEN CHILI CORN CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a 4 or 5 quart pan, cook bacon over medium heat until almost crisp. Add onions and cook until tender.
• Stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk and cream. Stir in potatoes and liquid drained from clams.
• Continue cooking and stirring over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in thyme and dill.
• Cook, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Stir in corn, green chiles, clams, salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes longer to heat through.

SANTA FE CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add chorizo; sauté until fat is rendered, about 3 minutes. Add next 6 ingredients; sauté until onion begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Mix in oregano and cumin, then tomatoes, corn, and bottled clam juice. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, about 12 minutes. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cool, then cover and chill. Bring to simmer before continuing.)
• Add clams to mixture in pot; cover and cook over medium-high heat until clams open and potatoes are tender, about 7 minutes (discard any clams that do not open). Mix in 4 tablespoons cilantro. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide clams among 6 shallow soup bowls. Ladle chowder over. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and serve.
• A smoked-pork link sausage flavored with garlic and spices, but milder than Mexican chorizo. Spanish chorizo is available at Spanish markets and specialty foods stores.

CAULIFLOWER CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add turkey bacon and cook until crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain, reserving drippings in the saucepan.
• Add onion and celery to the saucepan; cook over medium heat until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Add garlic; cook, stirring, 30 seconds more. Add chicken broth and potato; bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes. Add cauliflower and salt; simmer, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes.
• Working in 2 batches, transfer cooked vegetable mixture to a blender. Add milk and blend until very smooth, about 2 minutes.
• Stir mixture back into the saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer to heat through, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in clams and lemon zest.
• Sprinkle servings with pepper, bacon, and celery leaves.