Friday, October 14, 2016

A simple fall supper


Every week I make a menu plan when I prepare my grocery shopping list.  Like many people who menu plan, I don't stick rigidly to my plan.  If I don't feel like preparing a particular meal on the menu on a given night, I'll switch to one I have planned for later in the week.  Monday night was just such a night.  It had been a beautiful day but cool and windy.  I just didn't feel like making the meal on my plan for the night.  So I looked further down my list and found this one:

Clam Chowder
Iron Skillet Biscuits

Perfect!  Just the ticket for a cool windy evening.  And my husband loves those biscuits.  The chowder recipe (not written down; it's in my head) is simple and basic, but I thought I might share it anyway in case anyone is interested.

SIMPLE CLAM CHOWDER
2 Tblsp. butter
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
4 potatoes, peeled and diced (I used Yukon Gold)
2 cans chopped or minced clams, not drained
1 large can evaporated milk
Salt, pepper and paprika to taste*

In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Add celery and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are almost tender.  Add the clam juice; refill the bottle with water a couple of times and add the water to the pot as well.  Add the potatoes; bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer about 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender.  Stir in the clams and evaporated milk; heat through.  Add seasonings to taste.

* Now I have no idea at all why it took me so long to think of this seasoning trick, but I will share it here with anyone else who may not have thought of it.  I was adding salt and pepper and wondering what else to add to zing up the flavor a bit.  I glanced up at my spice rack and noticed the can of Old Bay seasoning.  (I had recently bought this item for the first time, on the recommendation of a friend who told me it was wonderful in tuna salad.)  What could be better with clams than Old Bay seasoning?  I measured out a half teaspoon and added it to the chowder.

Wow!  This is how I will make my clam chowder from here on out.  Added just the right touch of flavor.

For the biscuits, I used the recipe for Iron Skillet Biscuits from Marilyn at Mountain Top Spice. What a perfect meal for a blustery evening!


8 comments:

  1. Love this recipe, and that photo is just too cozy and sweet ♥

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    1. Thanks, Summer! The photo is one I scanned from a little free booklet I got at Cracker Barrel 15 years ago. I have always loved that little booklet and scanned many of the pages.

      Hope you enjoy the recipes if you try them.

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  2. This sounds wonderful and is going to be on my list very soon.

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    1. Oh, I hope you enjoy it, Sandy! We certainly did!

      Have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. Oh those iron skillet biscuits get me every time... nothing better to add to a blustery day meal than those! And I appreciate your recipe for the clam chowder, I will have to make it sometime!! Appreciate your "shout out" for my biscuit recipe too, thanks so much! Have a lovely weekend my friend!

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    1. They are great, Marilyn. I will be forever thankful that you shared that biscuit recipe!

      Hope you enjoy the clam chowder if you try it. It's perfect for a cool, windy or rainy autumn day (good in winter too, of course)!

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  4. I am not a clam chowder gal, but you are making me think about corn chowder. Your addition of Old Bay seasoning sounds like a good idea...wonder what the Queen of Downeast cooking would say about that? Ha! I always add some poultry seasoning to my chicken salad sandwiches...yummy.

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    1. Hmmmm ... the Queen of Downeast cooking seemed to appreciate SOME innovations, but she might frown on any additions to clam chowder.

      Oh, corn chowder is wonderful too. We ate gallons of that in our young married years when we had potatoes and frozen corn from our garden.

      Yes, poultry seasoning is perfect in chicken salad; I do the very same. I also add some dill weed to my tuna salad, but one of these days I will try the Old Bay in tuna as my friend suggested. She was given that tip by someone in a Maine restaurant (I can't remember which one) as being the secret to their tuna salad's great flavor.

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