Christmas Clam Chowder, New England Style

 

And so it was that my cell would ring! "Bob, I forgot to order my
Christmas Clam Chowder from you guys." "It is a tradition and I have
invited everyone over, I don't know what I am going to do? Can you help
me?"



A elderly client of ours has ordered my New England Clam Chowder for
years now. I had just figured they were moving onto something else this
year when the order never came in for the stuff. Turns out life as a 78
year old had got her out of sync this year. A fall in November had
broken her hip, she had just had surgery a week ago to remove the pins
from the hip. This all combined to keep other things at the top of her
mind and Chowder was not one of them.



Could I help her? I was reminded of an event last year I

blogged about at Christmas where a simple yes changed a couples
entire evening. And so it was that I would somehow squeeze in a prep and
finish for an old client to see that her tradition was kept alive!



Christmas Clam Chowder, New England Style!



Having lived in New England for a long time I learned a lot of cool
dishes from the area. This recipe was adapted to offer the Christmas
mosaic in its presentation.



Since I get a lot of e-mails for recipes, here is the recipe upfront,
reduced from food service levels to home serving levels.



Christmas Clam Chowder:



2 Tbsp spoons butter or olive oil

1/4 cup flour

2 bacon strips

4 clove garlic minced

1 onion diced

2 carrots diced

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

2 celery stalks diced

3 cups diced potato

4 cups clam broth or stock

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup half and half

1 cup heavy cream

1 pound chopped clam meat

salt, white pepper, and parsley for seasoning and finishing.



Ok a word about salt pepper and such, I don't do amounts, season and
taste, season and taste. Just learning to do this will improve your food
so much!



So render down the bacon in the pot you are going to do the chowder in.
At the same time take a small sauté and make a blond roux.







The old six eye friend does it well, but your home range will do a great
job as well. When the roux is completed set it aside for later use.



Next take all the vegetables, save the celery, and place it down in the
bacon fat in the bottom of you stock or chowder pot.







Get the veggies sweating out in olive oil or a little butter. Then stir
them around. Here is a good time to start seasoning your product!








Folks, we are doing this to remove water, and soften the vegetables. So
move this trinity around and get everything coated and softening. In the
mean time grab up the box chardonnay, a sauté and the celery to prepare
the secret that makes the chowder special!








First pour in two cups Chardonnay, reduce by 1/3 and then add in the
celery and one more cup of chardonnay and reduce by half. You may
thicken with a little corn starch and water and then set it aside for
later use.



Small Rant Time





A Chef's rant about the box wine:



You will notice I am using boxed wine here to cook with, you may hear
from "the wine snob" set that you should only cook with wine you would
drink. And many won't drink boxed wine, so what they imply is "don't
cook with boxed wine." The people making a statement like this are
IDIOTS, run away from them and their advice. They would actually have
you believe they would take a 2001 Cakebread Reserve Napa Chard
and scald it in a saute pan? To even make this statement they either
have to be fools, or have "parrot syndrome" and a very poor
understanding of cooking. Parrot syndrome like lemming syndrome, are the
same, I heard so and so say it, so I say it, but don't know why! Hey
heating destroys all that wine is.....! (that is why we store wine in
temp controlled cellars) So use the box stuff, use leftover stuff that
you opened and sat around to long before finishing. It is great to cook
with anytime. And if you get the snob type harping on you, challenge
them, I personally bet them, I hold that I will make six bowls or
dishes, some with the expensive wine you suggest (and provide) cooking
with and some with box wine of the same varietal. There is a thousand
dollars in it for you if you can pick them out correctly. Not one ever
takes me up on it or ever will, cooking destroys what a wine was and
makes it nothing more than a background depth for your dish! So move
forward realizing that box wines are good to cook with and expensive
bottles of wine were made to be drank and enjoyed by people, not ruined
by some lunatic with a sauté pan! And I have noticed it is usually
people who could not afford a 2001 Penfolds Grange that want you
to burn it instead of drinking it! Shear stupidity!



My name is Chef Bob Ballantyne and I use Box Wines!



Ok I feel better now!







Next we add in the clams, I like a pound of clams per gallon of finished
product. I use chopped clam meat no bellies.







Then you need to fold this together with the trinity and bring it back
to temp.








Once you get the clams up to temperature then you fold in the blond roux
you made earlier. Get this mixed into and dispersed well.








Now add the wet products, so the buttermilk, half and half, and the
heavy cream. And stir till up to temperature. I like to bring mine up to
185 degrees F at this point. I don't want to break the milks by allowing
out of control heating.








Last we add in the Chardonnay reduction and the celery. Bring back to
temp and if the roux did not do its job completely you can thicken
however you like, reduction (a favorite but time consuming), Signature
Secrets, Flour and Water, or my personal favorite egg yokes. Take two
egg yokes and stir them, temper them with some of the hot chowder and
add to the main pot. Mix and heat until thickened. Serve this up with
chowder crackers, celery and carrot sticks.

Just wanted to post a pic of a real nice gift of cheese this year, I
received from my boss.







I hope each of you will reflect on how you positively affected someone's
life this holiday season, if you can not come up with a name, lets work
on that in 2007 starting today!



Til we talk again, Have a very merry Christmas!

Chef Bob Ballantyne

The Cowboy and The Rose Catering

Grand Junction, Colorado, USA