[Sca-cooks] chowder - OOP

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Also sprach Erika Thomenius:
>>I believe I actually have the 1883 Fannie Farmer, somewhere within
>>maybe three feet of me. I'll see if I can find it. Do you mean
>>actual, archaic cheowdah, i.e. fish or clams, ship's biscuit, salt
>>pork, and onion, or the newer canon of roux, cream or milk, taters,
>>onions, and clams? I can check, but I'm not certain which I'm
>>supposed to be looking for there...
>
>The roux, cream or milk, taters, onions and clams version.

Ah. Well, in that case it would support your argument, at least to
the extent of proving that the modern canonical version is older than
1900. I was looking at the Lydia Child 1833 version this morning,
noting that it contains not only ship's biscuit, but also spuds _and_
a flour-thickened water base. I can only hope that the large amount
of fish called for (essentially one pound per person) is enough to
provide it, along with sacrilegious flavorings (i.e. a tomato
product), with flavor. No milk or cream, and also no butter, which
surprised me a little.

>>The key is to not overcook any of it, use fresh
>>ingredients, and remember that this is supposed to be a fish or clam
>>chowder containing some tomatoes, _not_ tomato soup with clams in it.
>>I like making a fine dice or julienne of peeled, seeded tomato, and
>>almost garnishing with it, rather than letting it take over the soup.
>>I think it makes a nice addition to what would otherwise be a
>>perfectly recognizable chowder.
>
>Well, see, that's the thing.  When I've tasted it, and when I've seen it
>served to my (heathen) friends, it has ALWAYS appeared as a tomato soup with
>clams in it.  Is this one of those things for which there are a million
>different recipes?

I'm sure, but the best will be high in seafood essence of one form or
another, fairly lightly cooked, and low in tomato content, while the
worst will be canned, almost invariably very high in tomato content.

The homemade recipes I've seen all seem to provide a translucent or
almost clear, pinky-orange broth, tasting of clams or fish, and
visible chunks of tomato which don't overpower the character of the
broth.

><mindless fanatic>
>
>Yeah, well... uh... I'm just right and everybody else is wrong!  So there!
>Neener neener!
>
></mindless fanatic>

Later we can talk about cuskynoles.

>>Now. Somewhere, I have nice recipes for tomato-enhanced fish
>>chowders, both in William Woys Weaver's "America Eats", and in "I
>>Hear America Cooking", whose author's name has escaped me for the
>>moment. Barbara something, I think... I also have my own recipe
>>_somewhere_ on disk, coincidentally locked, until just this past
>>weekend, onto a CD whose format I did not have the equipment
>>necessary to read. I'll look for it now that I have a working CD
>>re-writer.
>
>Many thanks.  It does remain to be seen, however, if the Pure of Faith can
>be tempted.... but I will try it.  :)
>
>>I've always felt the the best test of a fine sauce is what you can
>>get somebody to eat when it's covered with it. A truly fine sauce,
>>people will eat on old tires, barbed wire, that sort of thing. Maybe
>>broken glass... it doesn't take much to help down a properly cooked
>>lobster, though. I've often wondered about whether I might eat an old
>>shingle if napped with a perfect Sauce Foyot...
>
>Oh, you bet.  ANYTHING can be made good with enough Hollandaise on it.

Including, on one notable occasion in my own experience, sliced
pineapple. Well, it was _sort_ of a Hollandaise, sweetened and spiked
with rum...

Okay, I found two of my own tomato-ey chowder recipes on disk. While
I am clearly displaying a bias of sorts, I present them here, for
good or ill. These were written years ago, and I must say that in the
intervening time I've found few chowder recipes that contain both
tomato _and_ butter, so I may be accused of trifling with the canon.
You'll note that I render the salt pork, for example, then remove the
cracklings to use as a garnish; this isn't necessary; I just like it
that way.

>New York Fish Chowder
>For Four to Six Entree Servings
>
>6 slices salt pork or bacon, in
>						matchstick strips
>3 pounds firm, lean fish fillet such as cod, haddock, striped bass,
>blackfish or tilefish, sliced 1 inch thick
>3 large russet baking potatoes, Long Island preferred, diced 1/2 inch
>2 medium onions, diced 1/4 inch
>2 medium tomatoes, ripe but firm, diced. Peeling is optional.
>2 quarts fish stock, bottled clam juice, water spiked with beer, or
>any combination of the above
>6 unsalted crackers, crushed, or 3 rounded Tbs fine matzoh meal
>6 Tbs unsalted butter, diced and chilled
>1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
>1 tsp cayenne pepper sauce, or to taste
>1 - 2 Tbs chopped parsley
>salt and pepper
>
>			Preheat oven to 350° F. In a deep, oven-proof
>casserole or Dutch oven holding about 5 quarts, cook the salt pork
>with 1/2 cup water over medium-high heat, stirring to separate the
>shreds. As the water cooks away and the fat renders out, reduce the
>heat to low. Cook the salt pork until it is just golden, and, with a
>slotted spoon, remove and drain on a paper towel. In the remaining
>fat, sweat the onions until they are soft and transparent but not
>brown. Remove them, reserve them, and take your pan off the heat. It
>should still have some traces of fat in it.
>			Splash an ounce or so of your cold stock into
>the bottom of the pan to cool it, and begin layering. Start with a
>thin layer of cooked onion, followed by fish, a sprinkling of
>cracker, a layer of potato, and a layer of tomato. Repeat until
>everything is used up, the only hard and fast rule being not to have
>potato or cracker directly on the bottom, since they are likely to
>burn. You can salt and pepper the layers as you build, or season it
>all when you finish.
>			In a separate pan, bring your stock or other
>cooking liquid to a boil. Pour it over the fish construct in your
>casserole. Over medium-high heat, bring the chowder back to a
>near-boil. Cover the pan and place in the oven for twenty minutes.
>Remove it from the oven, season with Worcestershire, cayenne, and
>salt and pepper, if necessary, and let it sit for five more minutes,
>covered.
>			Remove the cover and add 1/3 of the chilled
>butter where some liquid shows in the pan. Using heavy potholders,
>gently shake and swirl the pan until the butter is fully melted and
>incorporated. Don¹t stir it or you¹ll break up the fish and
>potatoes. Repeat this process with the next third of the butter, and
>again with the rest. Adjust seasoning if you want to, and garnish
>with the reserved salt pork and parsley.

And the quickie for when you get home late from work...

>Facilitated New York Clam Chowder
>Makes 4 entree servings or 6 starter soup servings
>4 slices salt pork or bacon, in
>						matchstick strips
>2  10-ounce cans minced, or whole baby, clams, drained, liquid reserved
>6 cups bottled clam juice and/or fish stock, including juice drained
>from the clams
>2 large russet baking potatoes, Long Island preferred, peeled and
>diced 1/2 inch
>1 large yellow onion, 1/4 inch dice
>1 large tomato, ripe but firm, 1/2 inch dice. Peeling optional
>2 Tbs cracker crumbs or matzoh meal
>4 Tbs butter, chilled and diced
>1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
>1/2 tsp cayenne pepper sauce
>salt and pepper
>1 Tbs chopped parsley
>
>			In a heavy, 3 quart saucepan, cook the salt
>pork with 1/2 cup water over medium-high heat, stirring to separate
>the shreds. As the water cooks away and the fat renders out, reduce
>the heat to low. Cook the salt pork until it is just golden, and,
>with a slotted spoon, remove and drain on a paper towel. Reserve. In
>the remaining fat, sweat the onions until they are soft and
>transparent but not brown.
>			Add the cracker crumbs and stir until the
>crumbs and fat are fully mixed, as if you were making a roux. Don¹t
>brown the crumbs. Add the clam juice or fish stock, and bring to a
>boil, stirring occasionally, until the chowder thickens slightly.
>			Put in the potatoes, bring back to a simmer,
>and cook on low heat for around twenty minutes. When the potatoes
>are tender, add the clams and the tomatoes. Remove from the heat and
>season lightly with the salt and pepper, then with the
>Worcestershire and cayenne sauce.
>			Stir in 1/3 of the cold butter. When it is
>fully melted and incorporated add the second third, and so on until
>your chowder is pale, buttery, and greaseless. Garnish with the salt
>pork and parsley, and serve.    

Adamantius
--
"No one who cannot rejoice in the discovery of his own mistakes
deserves to be called a scholar."
	-DONALD FOSTER