Five Clam Chowder With Blissful Mash Food

CLASSIC CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a large soup kettle, fry bacon over medium heat until bacon crisps, about 5 minutes. Remove bacon; set aside.
• Keep 2 tablespoons bacon fat in pan. (If necessary, add oil to yield 2 tablespoons.) Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Add thyme and bay leaves; cook until fragrant, 30 seconds or so.
• Whisk in mashed potatoes, clam juice (bottled and what you've drained from the clams) and 1 cup of water. Add new potatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat; continue to simmer, partially covered, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in clams, cream and parsley; season with salt and pepper.
• Heat through and serve, garnishing each bowl with reserved bacon.

CREAMY CRACKED CONCH CHOWDER WITH SAFFRON, COCONUT, AND ORANGES

Steps:

• Shellfish Cream: Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the scotch bonnet, shallots, and garlic. Stir. Let the vegetables flavor the oil (about 1 minute). Now add the clams, mussels, star anise, and black pepper. Stir. Now add the orange juice and cover the pot. Remove the clams and mussels as they open to a colander set over a bowl to catch the liquid (they start opening after about 3 minutes, just take them out as they open and cover the pot again and just keep checking for more open ones.) Reserve the shellfish and add the juices back to the pan.
• Allow the orange and shellfish juice to reduce, uncovered, until about 1 cup of liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Now add in the saffron, heavy cream, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Be careful, cream can boil over in a split seconds. Reduce the cream until it will just barely coat the back of a spoon, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain. Discard the solids. Reserve the flavored cream.
• While the cream is reducing, removed the cooled mussels and clams from their shells. Reserve the meat and discard the shells.
• Vegetable Garnish: Put potatoes in a saucepot of lightly salted water. Bring to a boil and turn down heat and simmer until just done. Strain off the water. Reserve the potatoes.
• In a large heavy soup pot cook the bacon with the olive oil over medium-high heat until the bacon is halfway cooked. Add the butter and stir. Add the garlic and chiles and stir briefly. Add the rest of the vegetables except the potatoes and stir to coat. Add the salt and pepper, cilantro, and bay leaf. Cook until the vegetables are cooked, but still firm, about 8 minutes.
• Add the reserved potatoes, saffron cream, clams and mussels.
• Conch: Season the conch with salt and pepper. Dredge the conch in the flour, then the egg mixture, and then the panko. Place on a large plate or pan as they are coated. You can layer them if you separate the breaded pieces with waxed paper or plastic wrap.
• To finish the dish: Heat the soup until quite warm. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough canola oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Saute the conch, in batches, adding more oil as necessary, until nicely colored on both sides. Remove to a paper towel lined plate. Once the conch is all cooked, chop it into pieces. Ladle the soup into warm bowls and scatter the cooked conch over the soup. Garnish with orange sections, cilantro leaves, and toasted coconut.

SCHOONER ELLIDA SHORE DINNER

Steps:

• In a very large pot with heavy lid, layer leeks, kielbasa, baby red potatoes, and parsley. Cover completely with white wine. Add garlic pepper. Add live lobsters. Top with corn on the cob and finally mussels or steamer clams. Cover tightly and cook over a propane cooker on the beach, or on a stovetop over high heat. Watch for steam starting to escape from the pot. When it does, set timer for 20 to 25 minutes. When done, you should smell the kielbasa and the mussels should be open completely. Lobsters should be bright red in color. Lift out dinner ingredients onto bed of seaweed or large platters. Serve in large bowls with melted butter on the side.

CREAMY CANADIAN CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Pan-fry bacon in a medium heavy skillet over moderate heat until crisp. Drain and crumble bacon; set aside.
• Add onion and celery to pan and sauté over moderate heat until tender but not brown. In a large heavy saucepan, combine onions, celery, drained potatoes, chicken bouillon, clam juice and enough water to cover potatoes.
• Cook, partially covered, over moderate heat for about 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are crisp tender.
• Stir in 2 cups milk; simmer another 5 minutes and add seasonings to taste.
• Reduce heat; add clams until they are heated through.
• Combine the rest of the milk and flour, blending until smooth; stir mixture into chowder.
• Heat chowder over low to moderate heat, stirring constantly, until chowder is bubbly hot and slightly thickened.
• Add cooked bacon.
• Adjust seasoning to taste.
• If possible refrigerate chowder, covered, for 24 hours to develop flavors.

EASY CLAM CHOWDER RECIPE

Steps:

• Drain clams, reserving liquid. Cook and stir bacon in large saucepan on medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
• Add potatoes, onions and bell peppers to bacon drippings in pan; cook 4 to 5 min. or until crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Add bay leaf and reserved clam liquid; stir. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Cover; simmer on medium-low heat 5 min. Remove and discard bay leaf.
• Add milk, white pepper, clams and bacon; mix well. Cook, uncovered, 3 to 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally. (Do not let soup come to boil.)