Jaspers New England Clam Chowder Food

JASPER'S NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat a 4- to 6-quart heavy-bottomed pot over low heat, and add salt pork. Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium and cook until salt pork is a crisp golden brown. Remove from pot; set aside.
• Add butter, onions, garlic, celery, thyme, and bay leaves. Saute, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until onions are softened but not browned, about 10 minutes.
• Add potatoes and strained clam broth. The broth should just barely cover the potatoes; if it doesn't, add enough water to cover them. Increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Cover, and cook potatoes vigorously until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the center, about 10 minutes. If the broth hasn't thickened lightly, smash a few potatoes against the side of the pot, and cook 1 to 2 minutes more to release the starch.
• Remove pot from the heat, and stir in diced clams and cream. Season to taste. If you are not serving the chowder within the hour, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate; cover after it has completely chilled. Otherwise, let it sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour, allowing the flavors to meld.
• When ready to serve, reheat the chowder over low heat; don't let it boil. Ladle into cups or bowls, making sure that clams, potatoes, and onions are evenly divided. Sprinkle with parsley, chives, and reserved salt-pork cracklings.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Scrub the clams, and rinse clean.
• Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in an 8-quart stockpot over high heat.
• Add the clams, and cover tightly.
• After 5 minutes, uncover, and stir the clams with a wooden spoon.
• Quickly cover the pot again, and let steam for 5 minutes more, or until most of the clams have opened.
• Don't wait for them all to open, or they will be overcooked.
• It should only take a little tug or prying to open the stragglers once they are all removed from the heat.
• The total cooking time for large cherrystones will be about 10 minutes; quahogs will need as much as 5 more minutes.
• While the clams are steaming, the broth should become foamy and light.
• It usually spills over a bit just as the clams are cooked and ready.
• As soon as you remove the clams from the stove, carefully pour as much of the broth as you can into a tall, narrow container.
• Let the broth sit for 10 minutes, then carefully pour through a fine-mesh strainer.
• After sitting, 99 percent of the grit will have collected at the bottom of the container.
• If you are not using the broth within the hour, chill it as quickly as possible, and cover it after it has completely cooled.
• Keep refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
• Remove the clams from their shells, cover, and refrigerate.
• After they have cooled a bit, dice them into 1/2-inch pieces.
• Cover again, and keep refrigerated until ready to use.
• Heat a 4- to 6-quart heavy-bottomed pot over low heat and add the salt pork.
• Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium and cook until the salt pork is a crisp golden brown.
• Remove from pot; set aside.
• Add the butter, onions, garlic, celery, thyme, and bay leaves.
• Sauté, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until the onions are softened but not browned, about 10 minutes.
• Add the potatoes and the strained clam broth.
• The broth should just barely cover the potatoes; if it doesn't, add enough water to cover them.
• Increase the heat, and bring to a boil.
• Cover, and cook the potatoes vigorously until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the center, about 10 minutes.
• If the broth hasn't thickened lightly, smash a few potatoes against the side of the pot, and cook 1 to 2 minutes more to release the starch.
• Remove pot from the heat, and stir in the diced clams and the cream.
• Season to taste.
• If you are not serving the chowder within the hour, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate; cover the chowder after it has completely chilled.
• Otherwise, let it sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour, allowing the flavors to meld.
• When ready to serve, reheat the chowder over low heat; don't let it boil.
• Ladle into cups or bowls, making sure that the clams, potatoes, and onions are evenly divided.
• Sprinkle with parsley, chives, and reserved salt-pork cracklings.

JASPER'S NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat 4 to 6 quartsized soup pot, over low heat.
• Add diced bacon, rendering fat, cook til crisp, with slotted spoon, remove bacon and set aside.
• Add butter to the bacon drippings in the soup pot, then add diced onions, garlic, celery, thyme and bay leaves. Saute, stirring occasionally with wooden spoon, until onions are softened, not brown, about 10 minutes.
• Drain the canned clams, saving the liquid into the soup pot. Set the clams aside with the crisp bacon.
• Add the diced potatoes and bottled clam juice to the soup pot. Total broth should just barely cover the potatoes, if it does not, add a little water. Cover and cook vigoriously about 10 minutes.
• Mash cooked potatoes with a spoon against side of pot to thicken chowder.
• Cook 1 to 2 minutes more,uncovered, to release the starch from the potatoes, which causes the chowder to thicken nicely.
• Remove from heat. Add clams, bacon, and cream.
• Season and add Parsley. Serve immediately.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place diced bacon in large saucepan with the butter. Cook on medium heat until almost crisp; add onions, and cook 5 minutes. When onions are translucent, stir in water, clam juice and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered until the liquid has reduced by half. Potatoes should be fork tender. Pour in half-and-half and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning and add chopped clams just before serving, (otherwise clams will be tough). Garnish with crackers and chopped chives.

NEW ENGLAND FISH CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat a 2 to 3-quart heavy pot over low heat and add the diced salt pork. Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium and cook until the pork is a crisp golden brown. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the cracklings to a small ovenproof dish, leaving the fat in the pot, and reserve until later.
• Add the butter, onions, savory or thyme, and bay leaf to the pot and saute, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, for about 8 minutes, until the onions are softened but not browned.
• Add the potatoes and stock. If the stock doesn't cover the potatoes, add just enough water to cover them. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, cover, and cook the potatoes vigorously for about 10 minutes, until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the center. If the stock hasn't thickened lightly, smash a few of the potato slices against the side of the pot and cook for 1 or 2 minutes longer to release their starch. Reduce the heat to low and season assertively with salt and pepper (you want to almost over season the chowder at this point to avoid having to stir it much once the fish is added). Add the fish fillets and cook over low heat for 5 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat and allow the chowder to sit for 10 minutes (the fish will finish cooking during this time).
• Gently stir in the cream and taste for salt and pepper. If you are not serving the chowder within the hour, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate; cover the chowder after it has chilled completely. Otherwise, let is sit for up to 1 hour at room temperature, allowing the flavors to meld.
• When ready to serve, reheat the chowder over low heat; don't let it boil. Warm the cracklings in a low oven (200 degrees) for a few minutes.
• Use a slotted spoon to mound the chunks of fish, the onions, and potatoes in the center of large soup plates or shallow bowls, and ladle the creamy broth around. Scatter the cracklings over the individual servings and finish each with a sprinkling of chopped parsley and minced chives.

JASPER'S MANHATTAN CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat a 4- to 6-quart heavy-bottomed pot over low heat, and add bacon. Once it has rendered a few tablespoons of fat, increase the heat to medium, and cook until bacon is crisp and golden brown. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat, leaving bacon in the pot.
• Add olive oil and garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Add onion, celery, bell pepper, carrots, bay leaves, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Saute, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, until vegetables are softened but not browned, 10 to 12 minutes.
• Add potatoes and clam broth. The broth should just barely cover the potatoes; if it doesn't, add enough water to cover. Increase the heat, bring to a boil, cover, and cook potatoes vigorously until they are soft on the outside but still firm in the center, about 10 minutes. If the broth hasn't thickened lightly, smash a few potatoes against the side of the pot, and cook 1 to 2 minutes more to release the starch.
• Add tomatoes, and simmer 5 minutes more. Remove pot from the heat, stir in diced clams and parsley, and season with black pepper. If you are not serving the chowder within the hour, let it cool a bit, then refrigerate; cover after it has chilled completely. Otherwise, let it sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour, allowing the flavor to meld.
• When ready to serve, reheat the chowder over low heat; don't let it boil. Ladle into cups or bowls, making sure clams, vegetables, and bacon are evenly divided

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Bring bottled clam juice and potatoes to boil in heavy large saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Melt butter in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add bacon and cook until bacon begins to brown, about 8 minutes. Add onions, celery, garlic and bay leaf and sauté until vegetables soften, about 6 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 2 minutes (do not allow flour to brown). Gradually whisk in reserved juices from clams. Add potato mixture, clams, half and half and hot pepper sauce. Simmer chowder 5 minutes to blend flavors, stirring frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and keep refrigerated. Bring to simmer before serving.)