What a perfect time to declare it to be New England clam chowder week because the temperature here in Maine has been zero degrees at night and the wind has been a howling! Recipes for chowder are pretty personal around here. Some old salts would never use rendered bacon fat to sauté their onions in, they'd stop listening to you, roll their eyes and turn up their noses. Salt pork is how the old timers started chowder, period. Quahogs, not likely, either.
I'm telling you from experience you can't please too many people here in Maine with chowder because it's never like their mother's. Perhaps they will taste it, but if you leave the room they all will be chatting about "where did she learn to make chowder, Howard Johnson's"? But, I'll take a shot at MY way of making it and hope that I don't take too much heat for it.
First off, you need 2 1/2 to 3 pounds of steamer clams, yup, steamers. What's a steamer clam, you ask? It's a soft shell clam that lives in sandy or muddy Atlantic shoreline. If you're lucky enough to have a choice, pick the mud clams. Nothing complicated, the mud washes away after several soakings, but God couldn't get all the grit and sand out even with an army to help. There's alway some crunchy grit left, period! Clean the fresh steamers well and go directly from the sink to a waiting large 6 quart heavy bottomed pot, turn the heat on medium and cover. You caught me, no water! Be brave...
Italian food isn't just all about pasta and tomato sauce. Much of it is
simple and rustic home-style cooking, like simple sautes and slow
braises. The recipes I like the most are both simple and elegant, such
as scaloppine, which involves cooking thin pieces of meat. All that the
word scaloppine means is thin piece of meat. Veal or chicken are
commonly used in classic recipes. The meat is breaded, fried, and then
served in a sauce, such as a piccata, which features white wine, capers,
and lemon.
Summer barbecues just aren’t complete without this classic side dish. Everyone has a favorite version, and when I’m looking for an authentic home cooked version, this is my recipe of choice.
Wow is all I can say. I don't think you'll ever go back to a boxed cake after making this one. It's fantastic. It's what grandma used to make with it's one-of-a-kind flavor and "Betty Crocker" looks.