Chowdah/Chowder--Cook-Off 20

[chappie]

Those periwinkles look a lot bigger than the Chesapeake Bay variety, which usually cling to marsh grasses and bushes. Also, would the brackish quality of the rivers here mean the 'winkles don't taste as good?

[johnnyd]

Those periwinkles look a lot bigger than the Chesapeake Bay variety, which usually cling to marsh grasses and bushes. Also, would the brackish quality of the rivers here mean the 'winkles don't taste as good?

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I'd imagine they will taste a little different. Grab a baggie-full and experiment.

I'd also check your State Maritime website for any shellfish harvesting alerts. Giving a panel of chowder judges a case of gastro-intestinal misery is, well, bad form.

Edit to add: The wrinkles in my picture are between a half-inch and an inch across

Edited February 28, 2008 by johnnyd (log)

[Toliver]

They're great. But next time I might chop the bacon a little courser. And I would like to learn how to make airier crackers. Still, the garnish was well-received.

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Not to drift too far off-topic from this dicussion but what if, instead of using the two tablespoons of shortening that the Oyster Cracker recipe calls for, you used two tablespoons of bacon fat instead? Or would that be pork overkill (as if there really is such a thing ).

[Chris Amirault]

Nice recipe for simple, clear RI clam chowder in the Boston Globe: click. It's heavy on the clams (everyone gets 2/3 cup) and potatoes (everyone gets 2/3s of a russet), but there's no cream or tomatoes to be found. As Domenic Bitto of Evelyn's states in the accompanying article,,

I do know that once you've had Rhode Island clam chowder, you absolutely love it. I don't know if it's because it's so fresh and simplistic, or it's because it's not as filling [as New England clam chowder]. But it's totally Rhode Island - and it's such a pleasure to have a cup of chowder while you're waiting for your meal, then still have room to eat.

Of course, by "cup of chowder" he means "cup of chowder and six clam cakes."

[chappie]

Ah, it's that time of year. The annual chowder cookoff I enter is set for Feb. 21, and I have a title to defend.

I was planning on using the whelks I mentioned in another thread as a unique ingredient but I'm not sold on their flavor/texture for a competition. Last year, I took the prize with an oyster, leek and vermouth chowder, described upstream here.

Instead of reprising it, I'm considering taking an hour and 45-minute drive to Chincoteague, Va. There, I can purchase local clams shucked in quarts and gallons, or even their local oysters -- which can be obtained here but not shucked. With either ingredient and some really good Amish market cream, I might just do a simple, really authentic batch this year.

No one ever does a clam chowder at this Annapolis event, probably because there's little affordable access to clams in the quantities you'd want in such a dish. Maybe that's the ticket, provided I can verify that the seafood place in Chincoteague I found online does have what they say...

[Chris Amirault]

Sounds good. Will you also be procuring some smoked or salted pork of note?

[Peter the eater]

Here's a chowder that's as good as any I've had:

A little bit sweet and salty, with well-cubed potatoes and a good amount of seafood, outrageous popovers, and served outdoors . . .

[heidih]

In the spirit of chowder today. Potato, cauliflower in a shrimp stock. Half mashed. Coconut based so onion & garlic sauteed in the cream, lots of black rough crush pepper, coconut milk, and finished with a ton of cilantro. Some fish sauce as salt. Couple rounds of tasteless summer sausage as the meat/smoke element. Hits the craving with what was available in fridge.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I grew up on Monterey Bay.   My father loved to go clamming.    We would bring home a bucket of clams, chuck them, cut them into morsels (these were big, 6" wide shells), and make New England style chowder, simply clams, their liquid, onions, potatoes, milk.    Never herbs.   Good eating.    I also was fed raw clams on the beach with lemon and Worcestershire.    Until my peers said, "eeeeeuuuuuuu!"  and I stopped.  

[MetsFan5]

26 minutes ago, Margaret Pilgrim said:

I grew up on Monterey Bay.   My father loved to go clamming.    We would bring home a bucket of clams, chuck them, cut them into morsels (these were big, 6" wide shells), and make New England style chowder, simply clams, their liquid, onions, potatoes, milk.    Never herbs.   Good eating.    I also was fed raw clams on the beach with lemon and Worcestershire.    Until my peers said, "eeeeeuuuuuuu!"  and I stopped.  

  That sounds delicious. 
 

  My father got me hooked on raw clams at age 4. Love them to this day, especially the cherry stone and little necks we get out East. 

[BeeZee]

yes to raw clams as a little kid...growing up on Long Island our next door neighbors who went clamming (in addition to gardening and bee keeping, an intro to all kinds of delicious things) I got to eat raw clams in the backyard. DH and I dined outdoors at a really good fish restaurant in Princeton (Blue Point Grill) on Wednesday and split some really good NE style chowder, it had a little bit of thyme in it.

[heidih]

15 hours ago, heidih said:

In the spirit of chowder today. Potato, cauliflower in a shrimp stock. Half mashed. Coconut based so onion & garlic sauteed in the cream, lots of black rough crush pepper, coconut milk, and finished with a ton of cilantro. Some fish sauce as salt. Couple rounds of tasteless summer sausage as the meat/smoke element. Hits the craving with what was available in fridge.

That would have been a more informative post if I'd mentioned the wild pink salmon fillet that I added near end and broke up in pot. I am looking forward to the little bit of leftover late today.

[Katie Meadow]

4 hours ago, BeeZee said:

yes to raw clams as a little kid...growing up on Long Island our next door neighbors who went clamming (in addition to gardening and bee keeping, an intro to all kinds of delicious things) I got to eat raw clams in the backyard. DH and I dined outdoors at a really good fish restaurant in Princeton (Blue Point Grill) on Wednesday and split some really good NE style chowder, it had a little bit of thyme in it.

Growing up I have many memories of my parents eating raw clams. My mother was particularly into them. Summers in "the other Hampton" we ate a ton of shellfish. But I never witnessed any interest in oysters, which is strange to me. I really like the briny east coast oysters. My dad did eat a live Scungilli he found on the beach one time just to gross us out. No idea how he knew what they were or that you could just eat them raw, alive and sucked out of their shell while playing with your kids in the surf, but then he did have a longs and sometimes mysterious life before I was born.