The occasional sunny days, when all the barbeque's are dragged out, dusted off and set alight, meat blackening on top of these pyres, are always generously seasoned with showers, wind, overcast-ness and even hail.
Try as I might to endure the constant flip-flopping of the weather, I have simply written this summer off as a bad job and am looking forward to Autumn instead, when we at least stand some chance of warm weather.
This has reflected itself vividly in my cooking too. Cosy soups and comforting puds have been on the menu in the Erickson household these past few weeks.
I don’t want to completely give into eating steamed puddings just yet though, or cooking full roast dinners so I am trying to find a decent balance. Chowder seems to fulfil that need for something to give me a warm, culinary hug without shouting "Winter!" too loudly at me.
Despite its relatively local etymology (Chowder is a derivation of the French word Chaudiere, which roughly means a “hot pot”, although it could also refer to the word “jowter”, old English for Fishermonger), us closeted Brits don’t really cook Chowder, preferring vegetable, tomato or the Little Black Dress of the soup world, Chicken. However, since meeting my husband, I have discovered the joy of Chowder, just as the New Englanders did, so many years ago, when Breton fishermen would serve up huge, bubbling cauldrons of fish soup, freshly made with the catch of the day. To this day, Chowder is always affiliated with New England despite there being many deviations from the original French recipes, which would have originally resembled a Bouillabaise.
Indeed, such is the widespread popularity of the Chowder that it is noted in Moby Dick and makes an appearance in an episode of the Simpsons. Expensive but inferior tinned versions are available on every supermarket shelf.
The most famous of all Chowders though, is the Clam Chowder, a typical New England version, using their local shellfish catches and almost impossible to replicate if you live in the UK, far away from where Clams tend to inhabit. Fortunately, tinned Clams offer an ethereal taste of the Northeast and can be quite a convincing substitute.
But, for those unfortunate few who don’t like shellfish, you could just use plain old fish, prawns, cod, salmon, haddock, whatever firm fish is local to you. Or, forget the fish altogether and make a vegetarian version using potato and corn. The familiar creamy chowder texture is still vivid and the corn adds a wonderful sweetness to the soup that is offset by green peppers and onions. Some versions even add tomatoes, which is more redolent of the original fish stew served up by those French fisherman all those years ago.
It is dead simple to make; onions, garlic, celery, green pepper, diced potato simmered in olive oil, bacon fat or butter until tender. Some stock, milk, Cannellini Beans and canned Sweetcorn (I used creamed sweetcorn because that was all I had and it was just fine, although you may need to add a little more salt than usual) are then added, plus Dried Thyme and whole Peppercorns for a little bit of heat and the soup is virtually ready. At this point you could add your clams, or fish but it is completely substantial without either. A quick simmer, a readjustment of seasoning and the soup is ready to be served, steaming hot, into deep soup bowls, with crusty, buttered bread.
POTATO AND SWEETCORN CHOWDER serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter or Bacon Fat (you can fry off a rasher or two
1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 Sticks Celery, de-stringed and finely chopped
1 Small Green Pepper, finely chopped
1 Baking Potato, peeled and cut into ½” dice.
1 400g Can Tinned Sweetcorn or Creamed Sweetcorn
1 Tin Cannellini Beans (or tinned bean of your choice, you want a pale, creamy bean though)
Pinch of Dried Thyme or Sprig of Fresh
Seasoning
¾ Pint Stock or Water (I used water and the flavour was not impacted in anyway)
½ Pint Milk
METHOD:
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and sauté the onions, garlic, celery, pepper and potato for about 4 or 5 minutes, or until the vegetables start to look translucent and soft.
Turn the heat down to low, cover and leave to gently sweat down for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure they don’t stick.
Pour over the stock or water, bring to the boil, turn down to a gently simmer, cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the potato is cooked.
Add the beans, sweetcorn and milk, including all of their tin liquids, the Thyme and a little seasoning. Bring to the boil once more, turn down and simmer for another couple of minutes, just to allow the flavours to amalgamate.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Add a swirl of cream if necessary and a sprinkling of grated Gruyere or Cheddar to finish.
Serve with thickly buttered crusty bread.
Enjoy!
Try as I might to endure the constant flip-flopping of the weather, I have simply written this summer off as a bad job and am looking forward to Autumn instead, when we at least stand some chance of warm weather.
This has reflected itself vividly in my cooking too. Cosy soups and comforting puds have been on the menu in the Erickson household these past few weeks.
I don’t want to completely give into eating steamed puddings just yet though, or cooking full roast dinners so I am trying to find a decent balance. Chowder seems to fulfil that need for something to give me a warm, culinary hug without shouting "Winter!" too loudly at me.
Despite its relatively local etymology (Chowder is a derivation of the French word Chaudiere, which roughly means a “hot pot”, although it could also refer to the word “jowter”, old English for Fishermonger), us closeted Brits don’t really cook Chowder, preferring vegetable, tomato or the Little Black Dress of the soup world, Chicken. However, since meeting my husband, I have discovered the joy of Chowder, just as the New Englanders did, so many years ago, when Breton fishermen would serve up huge, bubbling cauldrons of fish soup, freshly made with the catch of the day. To this day, Chowder is always affiliated with New England despite there being many deviations from the original French recipes, which would have originally resembled a Bouillabaise.
Indeed, such is the widespread popularity of the Chowder that it is noted in Moby Dick and makes an appearance in an episode of the Simpsons. Expensive but inferior tinned versions are available on every supermarket shelf.
The most famous of all Chowders though, is the Clam Chowder, a typical New England version, using their local shellfish catches and almost impossible to replicate if you live in the UK, far away from where Clams tend to inhabit. Fortunately, tinned Clams offer an ethereal taste of the Northeast and can be quite a convincing substitute.
But, for those unfortunate few who don’t like shellfish, you could just use plain old fish, prawns, cod, salmon, haddock, whatever firm fish is local to you. Or, forget the fish altogether and make a vegetarian version using potato and corn. The familiar creamy chowder texture is still vivid and the corn adds a wonderful sweetness to the soup that is offset by green peppers and onions. Some versions even add tomatoes, which is more redolent of the original fish stew served up by those French fisherman all those years ago.
It is dead simple to make; onions, garlic, celery, green pepper, diced potato simmered in olive oil, bacon fat or butter until tender. Some stock, milk, Cannellini Beans and canned Sweetcorn (I used creamed sweetcorn because that was all I had and it was just fine, although you may need to add a little more salt than usual) are then added, plus Dried Thyme and whole Peppercorns for a little bit of heat and the soup is virtually ready. At this point you could add your clams, or fish but it is completely substantial without either. A quick simmer, a readjustment of seasoning and the soup is ready to be served, steaming hot, into deep soup bowls, with crusty, buttered bread.
POTATO AND SWEETCORN CHOWDER serves 4-6Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Butter or Bacon Fat (you can fry off a rasher or two
1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 Clove Garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 Sticks Celery, de-stringed and finely chopped
1 Small Green Pepper, finely chopped
1 Baking Potato, peeled and cut into ½” dice.
1 400g Can Tinned Sweetcorn or Creamed Sweetcorn
1 Tin Cannellini Beans (or tinned bean of your choice, you want a pale, creamy bean though)
Pinch of Dried Thyme or Sprig of Fresh
Seasoning
¾ Pint Stock or Water (I used water and the flavour was not impacted in anyway)
½ Pint Milk
METHOD:
Heat the oil and butter in a heavy bottomed saucepan and sauté the onions, garlic, celery, pepper and potato for about 4 or 5 minutes, or until the vegetables start to look translucent and soft.
Turn the heat down to low, cover and leave to gently sweat down for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure they don’t stick.
Pour over the stock or water, bring to the boil, turn down to a gently simmer, cover and cook for another 10 minutes or until the potato is cooked.
Add the beans, sweetcorn and milk, including all of their tin liquids, the Thyme and a little seasoning. Bring to the boil once more, turn down and simmer for another couple of minutes, just to allow the flavours to amalgamate.
Taste for seasoning and adjust as necessary.
Add a swirl of cream if necessary and a sprinkling of grated Gruyere or Cheddar to finish.
Serve with thickly buttered crusty bread.
Enjoy!
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