Sunday Dinner Series Part IV: Hot Diggity Clam!

There seems to be a direct relationship between the number of parts in this series and the lameness of the title puns.  But we soldier on!

In case I've never clearly laid it out before, I'm Italian on my mother's side (Nonna and Nonno immigrated to Canada in the early 1950s, I believe), and French and Irish on my father's side.  It's been at least seven generations since my ancestors left, however, so I was never really exposed to many "traditional" French or Irish dishes in my formative years (though my sister Sar got her fill of the latter over the past little while... mmm, pudding and Irish breakfast).  Regardless, there are still certain meals that I associate with my paternal family and tradition.  One of these was New England clam chowder and freshly-baked biscuits.

As a kid, I wasn't in love with eating soup containing bivalves.  But as my palate has matured, I can't help but look back and think of how much I missed as a child, eating Lipton or Campbell's chicken soup while the adults feasted on THIS.

I'd still eat the biscuits, of course.

Many years have passed, and I'm now married to a wonderful man who loves shellfish of any sort.  I can't remember the first time I made this for him... it might have been a joint effort with my lovely friend Kimmi (her hubs also loves clam chowder... you should've seen how happy he was when he found it at a Chinese buffet!)  At any rate, he is an avid fan of my mom's old standby recipe for chowder and biscuits.  It's a delicious meal, to be sure... and it also has enough fat to nicely round you out and keep the cold Winnipeg winds out of your bones!  Ah well, it was never a weekly thing anyway... just a nice hearty "special occasion, Grandma and Grandpa are coming over to play bridge!" meal.

In the making!

Ready for its close-up.

New England Clam Chowder

Adapted slightly from the Women's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery (circa 1970, I think...)

Makes about 3 quarts, says the recipe... about 12 cups, says I.  It'll feed 6 people well.

• 3 cans (10.5 oz each) minced clams
• Water
• 1/2 lb bacon, diced
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 3 cups diced raw potato (I usually use red potatoes and leave the skins on)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground pepper
• 4 cups (1 L) homogenized milk (3.25% milk fat, I believe)
• 2 Tbsp butter
• Paprika

1.  Strain canned clams and reserve the liquid.
2. Measure clam liquid; add water to top up to 4 cups.
3. Fry bacon in a large pot until golden and crisp.  Remove and drain on paper towels and reserve.
4. Drain off bacon fat, leaving behind about a 1/4 cup.  Add onion and sauté for 5 minutes.
5. Add potato, salt, pepper, and clam liquid.  Simmer until potatoes are tender.
6. Add clams, milk, and butter.  Reheat but do not boil.
7. Top with crisp bacon and sprinkle with paprika.  Serve with biscuits.

Seriously, do as I say and serve with biscuits.

Biscuits: all the cool kids are doing it!

Cloud Biscuits

Courtesy of our honourary Aunt Kim, from out East (that's how you know they're legit)

Makes about a dozen regular-sized biscuits... only six if you make massive square ones like I did.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
• 1 Tbsp sugar (increase to 1/2 cup sugar for sweeter biscuits worthy of strawberry shortcake)
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening (you can use lard, if you have some that needs using... ;))
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2/3 cup milk
• Optional: 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese and/or 2 green onions, trimmed and sliced finely

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Sift together dry ingredients; cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs (a pastry blender, fork, or two butter knives works well here).
3. Combine egg and milk; add to flour mixture all at once.  Stir.
4. Add "optional extras" if using.  Stir until dough follows the fork around the bowl (i.e. until just combined).
5. Pat or roll dough out on lightly floured surface until about 1/2 inch thick.  Dip a biscuit cutter into flour and cut straight down into the dough.  Put biscuits onto a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray.
6. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for about 8-12 minutes.  Keep an eye on them-- you might need to use a spatula to lift them up and see how dark the bottoms are getting.  They should be a good golden-brown- not too light, but not burnt either (I've been guilty of this).  The tops should look dry, with no wet uncooked dough in evidence.
7. Cool slightly (if you can wait that long) and serve warm.

Note the colour of the bottoms!

Nom nom nom.  Good for a Sunday dinner, plus lunch AND repeat dinner on Monday! Yes, I baked fresh biscuits the next day... they really don't take long to come together!

Sorry for the blurriness... I think this is about the last of my Cannon photography.  From here on out, I'll mostly be using my iPhone 4 camera-- it does a FANTASTIC job of taking food shots!

Now, if you've made it with me this far and are still thinking, "Ugh, clams... can't do it, Honeybee, sorry!" then I have a good modification for you.  Instead of three cans of clams, try using three cans of tuna packed in water instead.  You can even reserve the tuna liquid in the same way as the clam liquid; just make sure to test for saltiness before you add more salt in step 5.  Even if you're still against the whole seafood thing (I'm looking at you, Sher), you can make this without the fish.  Try using chicken stock in place of the fish juice + water, and add more potatoes for a lovely bacon potato chowder.  Maybe add some corn to the mix.  It's versatile!  Even better, it will warm you up from head to toe as the mercury (or more accurately these days, coloured alcohol) drops!

Off to curl up with her Nonna blanket while reminiscing about dinners with Grandma and Grandpa,
-Honeybee



P.S.- This trip down memory lane seems like a great opportunity to show off one of my favourite shots from the wedding:

My seesters, helping me put on Grandma's pearls for the big day... but what's that?  The clam chowder aficionados are watching over us, just to the right of my shoulder!  Cute little Easter egg... funny the details you notice after the fact!  Also funny how something as simple as chowder can remind you of loved ones and simpler times.  Miss you, Grandma and Grandpa!

French Onion Soup

In the theme of hearty, winterizing meals, I made some absolutely delicious French onion soup for myself and my coworker Jess before the holidays.  It was nice to have some guests over on a Thursday night to watch Big Bang Theory... why not dinner and a show?  It's nice to have Snickers around, too, to put my cat Chief in her place.

Ready for company... Soup, crudités, and sundried tomato and herb bean dip.  Don't forget the vino!

I really enjoy French onion soup.  It's so simple (and cheap!!) to make, but it has such a depth of flavour from the soft, caramelized onions.  Plus, it presents a PERFECT excuse to use my mandolin!  No way in heck I'd want to slice all those onions so thinly by hand... this just speeds up the process (and reduces the time I spend "crying" over the pot).  If you don't have a mandolin, the recipe would still work with manual knife-slicing... I'd just recommend unearthing some goggles from your old swimming lesson days prior to!!  I think Chef Michael Smith once hinted on his show that contact lenses decrease the teariness... I have yet to test this theory.  I'll let you know.

Mmm... Cheesy... Bread-y... Delicious...

French Onion Soup

Adapted from "Living the G.I. Diet" by Emily Richards and Rick Gallop

Makes 4 servings

• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 6 onions, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
• 6 cups beef stock (low fat, low sodium)
• 1/2 cup red wine (sometimes I use white... whatever you have on hand)
• 2 Tbsp dry sherry or cognac (in a pinch, I've even used rum...)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 slices crusty French bread or baguette
• 1 cup shredded light-style Swiss or Jarlsberg cheese (for this batch, all I had was cheddar and mozzarella, so I used a blend)

1. In soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Cook onions, garlic, and salt, stirring ften, for about 10 minutes or until they start to brown.  Reduce heat to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes or until onions are very golden, caramelized, and very soft.  Add flour and stir to coat onions for 1 minute.
2. Add beef stock, wine, sherry, bay leaf and pepper; bring to boil (make sure you scrape up all the lovely bits on the bottom of the pan).  Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.  Remove bay leaf.
3. Pour soup into desired bowls.  Place bread on top to fit bowls and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake in 400ºF oven for about 15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.  Broil for 30 seconds to brown top.

Looking back, I find it hard to believe that I used to hate onions.  As a kid, I can actually remember claiming that I was allergic to mushrooms and onions so I could avoid eating them (my cousins saw right through my claims... but I thought with all the hoopla surrounding Ni's food allergies, I could squeak by).  I'm not sure when I started to actually like onions, which is why I'll occasionally re-try things I dislike (read: olives, mushrooms, peppers) to see if my tastes have broadened.  I'm just glad they did in this case... I'd hate to miss out on this onion-y goodness.  Though, to be fair, there are still some onion applications I don't like... I can't see myself ever partaking in one of Hubs' cooking-onion-and-yellow-mustard-on-Wonderbread sandwiches.  *Shudders*

Hoping she'll be able to convince Hubs to save the onions for soup instead,
 -Honeybee

Going to the chapel...

I've been meaning to write a bit about Kimmi and Seanno's wedding, which went down on October 16th as part of the Weeks of Insanity.  It was most definitely the high point of that busy time!  It's been put off  as I've been finding myself blogging less, simply because I've actually been going out and doing things... apparently, I seem to have gotten a bit of a life here in the 'Peg!  Regardless, the writing bug is still festering... and I can only watch so many episodes of anime before a serious sushi craving kicks in.  Maybe I should attempt a bento box at some point in the future...

Sorry.  Way off track there.  Let's talk about my most favourite newlyweds.

And here they are, the new Mrs. Kimmi and Mr. Seanno!

  Kimmi and I have a lot of interests in common, a love of good food among them.  So, I've known for some time that her wedding celebration would feature delectable edibles.  In a way, though, I feel like a terrible friend... due to my desire to document said food, and a significant intake of wine, I think I took more pictures of plates than of people.  Ah well, that's what the professional photographer is for, right?  On with the show!

At the rehearsal dinner, which was held at Aroma, a Portuguese restaurant just a few blocks from my old apartment.  This was some delicious chicken, with a hint of the piri piri pepper that seems so central to Portuguese cooking.

The rehearsal dinner was absolutely fantastic-- wonderful people, lovely entertainment in the form of a live singer, and delicious food.  In addition to the above chicken, bitoque was also on the menu... a fried steak topped with a fried egg, and french fries.  Mmm.  Hubs, being the consummate red-meat carnivore, opted for that... I got to taste a bit, and it was to die for.  We got to start off with caldo verde, as well, which was a delicious potato, kale and chourico soup.  Hubs really enjoyed that as well, so Kimmi's mom offered to share the family recipe.  To finish off, in keeping with wanting to save the best for last, we got a Portuguese custard tart.

Image from this cookbook website, which incidentally boasts a simple recipe for these beauties.  I may be tempted into another Portuguese baked-goods DIY project here...

Let me talk to you about these tarts for a minute.  If you don't like custard, fine... just skip this paragraph.  But these things are, simply, amazing.  They're about the size of a standard buttertart, but much better, in my opinion.  Instead of a dense shortbread-like crust, the shells are a bit flaker.  Not as flaky as phyllo, but closer to that idea... according to the above link, puff pastry is used.  The filling is a fantastic, not TOO sweet, firm yellow custard.  What really does it for me is that the tops are caramelized, almost brûléd, which adds a great depth of flavour.  This isn't just some sickly sweet pastry... it's an art form.  We had a huge platter of these at Kim's sister's baby shower, and I'm ashamed to admit that I ate about three of them.  They're just so worth it.

Next up, the food on The Big Day!

Sweet potato soup, with the delicious white wine, my bridesmaid flowers, and a DJ in the background.  I'd never had a soup made with sweet potato before, but it was fantastic... and very much in keeping with the sunset-hued fall colour scheme of the wedding.  The only downside?  We ladies all stuck our napkins in our necklines to prevent drops of this scrumptious concoction from splashing on our fancy dresses.  I'm considering trying out this recipe to see if I can recreate the experience, since I doubt that The Delta London Armouries is willing to give out theirs.

Main course!  Chicken breast with a roasted red pepper sauce, combined with a well-prepared medium/medium rare beef tenderloin au jus.  Parisienne potatoes and steamed veggies went alongside.  DELICIOUS, and very filling... good thing we relaxed for a bit listening to speeches before the dancing began!  As a testament to how thoughtful and considerate Kimmi is, she'd specially arranged for Hubs to receive two pieces of beef to accomodate his poultry prejudice.  What a sweet bride!

Dessert #1.  Fresh strawberries atop chocolate and vanilla mousse, held in a caramelized sugar tuille of sorts, which was cemented to the plate with dark chocolate.  Oh, my.  Yes, please, and thank you.

Dessert #2.  Much later in the evening, we enjoyed the delicious pétit fours created by Seanno's talented cousin.  This was an excellent way to soak up some of the inebriation we were experiencing (as evidenced by my flushed face and the many glasses on the table... these belonged mostly to Hubs, I swear).  A toast to the happy couple!!

As the holiday season approaches, I can't help but reflect on how central food and drink is to celebrations and family gatherings.  Sometimes (not at this occasion, but at certain other, completely overdone Italian weddings), I can't help but groan at the lavish overabundance of food... but really, aren't we just carrying on the medieval tradition of feasts?  Sure, we might not dine on whole roast animals so much anymore (though still popular, if the success of Danny's Whole Hog is any indication...), or take our used bread trenchers and toss them out back for the poor to scavenge, or binge and purge like the Romans... but the overall celebratory feeling is still there.  Everyone, gather round, sit, eat, talk, drink, and revel in the pleasure of good food and good company.

Looking forward to the continuation of feasting as we get closer to Christmas,
-Honeybee

La notte delle tre zuppe...

…or, in English, the night of three soups.  I just thought it sounded better in Italiano.  Don’t ask me what possessed me to make three soups in one night.  They all just seemed so easy that I couldn’t help but throw them all together, then package them and freeze individual servings for those busy nights before ASL class.  
 

It all started when I had a craving for pea soup, and wanted to use up a bag of frozen President’s Choice peas (or PCPs, as mom says :P).  Instead of the warm and hearty ham variety, though, I came across the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for a summer pea and mint soup.  I didn’t have any mint, but basil stood in for it nicely; ditto for heavy cream vs. crème fraiche.  Quite a tasty and almost sweet little soup, which I chose to eat that night.

Next, I made an adapted form of the G.I. diet’s thai shrimp soup recipe, which features delicious flavours of ginger and lemongrass.  I didn’t have any bean sprouts or mushrooms (since I hate the latter), so I omitted the first and swapped halved cherry tomatoes for the second.  I also didn’t have any rice noodles at the time, so I threw in a handful of orzo pasta.  I’d give you the recipe, but overall I think it needs some significant tweaking before I’m ready to share it… the finished product was edible, of course, but not optimal.  I’ll get back to you on that one.

Lastly, I made a curried lentil soup, after seeing one on Food Network that made me start to salivate.  A quick Google led me here, where I adapted the recipe only by using canned lentils instead of dried, and Thai yellow curry paste (since it didn’t specify).  The only thing I would change: I was a bit overzealous with the paste.  If I had used less, I think things would’ve ended up tasting better… as Nonna always says, “You can always add, but you can’t take'm away”.  Questa donna e bellisima é intelligentissima.  I don’t think I need to translate that one.

Feeling a bit like a squirrel getting supplies ready for the winter,

-Honeybee

Skyooking

This entry is brought to you by the application Skype, the colour green, and the genus Capsicum.  Read on!

 I'm a fan of making up portmanteaux- words made out of two other words combined, like the ubiquitous "Brangelina".  These are not always well received; Hubs has a particular disdain for them.  A few people have caught onto my invention, "reversary": a "reverse anniversary", for those whose wedding is more than a year away.  Hubs and I had ours this past July 23rd, and a few kind (humoring?) friends used my new vocab to wish us well.  The countdown to our nuptials in on!!

Sorry.  Back to food, and the title: 

Skyooking (skii-YOU-king). verb.  To cook a recipe while engaging in a Skype video and audio conference with an individual in a separate location, who is preparing the same or similar food.  A portmanteau of "Skyping" and "cooking".

Think I could make it into an entry on Urban Dictionary? ...yeah, you're right, probably not.  Anyway, the whole concept of Skyooking came into existence at the suggestion of my wonderful and recently married sister, Ni.  Wanting to spend time together while doing something practical (like preparing dinner), she suggested that I select a relatively simple recipe that we would prepare simultaneously- she in her kitchen in Guelph, and me in my apartment in Winnipeg.  Sounded like a fantastic idea to me!

Screen shot!! Ni and I, almost 2,000 km apart, ready with our ingredients.  Allez cuisine!!

So for our cooking adventure, I chose Ancho Chicken Tortilla Soup, by the ever-perky Rachel Ray.  Ni had requested something "easy", that could be done on the stovetop; I felt that soup fit the bill, but I wanted it to be something special.  I remember Chaddy really enjoying some tortilla soup at the on-campus restaurant in our UWO days, then trying to recreate it in our apartment; this recipe made me think of him.  Ni initially balked at the number of ingredients, but we can promise you that it's well worth it.

Finished product, with additional avocado.  I LOVE that delicious fruit...

Close-up.  Note the heavy use of cilantro; as Rachel points out, this is optional.

I was a little concerned with all the peppers in the recipe.  Not because I have issues with spice, but more because (as I've mentioned before), the texture of peppers is not my favourite.  Honestly, though, it's mostly the plastic-like skin that's the problem... so for things like roasted red peppers, or puréed peppers like in this recipe, I'm perfectly fine.  Jalapeños don't bother me, luckily... son muy delicioso, as far as I'm concerned.

All done and ready to nosh!  You can see me, in the little viewer window, just to the left of Ni's head.  Nothing like sharing a meal with family, even if you're separated by a provincial border.

Ni and I, being in different cities and therefore having different produce options, ended up with slightly varied end products.  I've been utterly spoiled by decades of Ontario sweet corn, and the offerings at the local Winnipeg Superstore were extremely lacklustre.  I just knew that, with kernels that huge, those ears of corn would be super-bitter and starchy.  Not good eats.  So, I opted for canned sweet corn, drained, well-rinsed, and patted dry.  Ni, still living in "a place to stand, a place to grow", opted for slicing the kernels off the real deal.

We also ended up buying very different chilies.  Neither of us could find red chili peppers, so we just chucked in a small palmful of dried red chili flakes (something that always reminds me of our dad).  On the whole ancho chili front: I looked them up in Wikipedia before heading to the store,  so I knew to look for either ancho or poblano peppers.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a sign indicating either.  Instead, I just grabbed what looked the most like the picture I'd seen.  I'm not really sure WHAT it was.  I think Ni ended up with at least one cubanelle pepper, and possibly a Santa Fe Grande chili.  She ended up with a bit more fire in the end than I did, I think... nothing that additional sour cream (or plain yogurt, in my case) couldn't fix.

Still fantastic, no matter what chiles were used.

One thing that we both agreed on, without even consulting each other first, was to debone the supermarket rotisserie chicken ahead of time and use the remainder (I hate to use the term "carcass" as my mom does) to make our own chicken stock.  I had this simmering the night before, with some onions, carrots, and bay leaves to add extra flavour.  Mmm.

I also used some shredded chicken the night before to make this wrap, with some PC Blue Menu artichoke and asiago dip.  A side of fresh fruit instead of chips or fries was a nice change, too!

So overall, Skyooking was a great success.  I'm hoping that Ni and I can turn it into a semi-regular occurrence, despite her busy 4th year veterinary school schedule.  Now if we could just schedule a whole family event, using iChat's four-way video conference feature between Winnipeg, Guelph, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Windsor, we'd be all set.  Having the technology to do what we'd normally do in person, despite the distance, has really made this little "adventure" of mine easier to take.


Looking forward to a long-distance Sunday dinner,
-Honeybee