Perfect Flavor

My own take on Manhattan Clam Chowder made from Steele House staples…

On a snowy day like today, when there is no real hope of making it to the grocery store, it’s best to look into one’s pantry and try and make a little bit of magic happen.

After being out in the snow for the last hour or so walking two dogs, retrieving important items from our car left at the end of the driveway, and digging a path to the hot tub (all very essential items on our to-do list), Colin and I have found ourselves back inside and very hungry. Thinking I would make a tomato soup (yes, from scratch) and grilled cheese sammies, my eye was instead deterred to a single can of clams. “Oooh…” I thought to myself, “Colin’s gonna love this!”

Indeed, my own version of Manhattan Clam Chowder, or a tomato-based clam chowder, is one of Colin’s favorites, and armed (luckily) with the right ingredients, I was able to make this nice, warm, delicious soup on such a cold and snowy day.

Here’s the recipe:

**Feel free to add or take away almost any of the non-essential ingredients based on what you’ve got at home in your pantry and fridge. Just so we’re all on the same page–many of these ingredients should be present in your food stock at all times, as they are usually needed for whipping up just about any savory dish.

Ingredients

1 can Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (we’ve usually got 3-4 cans at a time in our pantry)

1 can baby clams (this dish is great even with out them OR you can sub in clamato juice (1 cup) or clam juice (1 cup))

1 carrot, diced (carrots are in our fridge at ALL times)

1 celery stalk, chopped (celery is in our fridge at ALL times)

1 onion, chopped (yellow onions are always in our pantry, and are stored in a cool, dark, dry place-on the bottom shelf)

1-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped (we’ve always got at least 3 heads of garlic lying around)

1 vegetable or chicken bouillon cube (always a staple in every kitchen, and handy when you’re out of veggies or stock)

1-2 teaspoons smoked sea salt (decadent but certainly not necessary. regular salt will do just fine! If you’re a big BBQer, a splash of liquid smoke will do the trick)

cracked black pepper to taste

a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes for an added kick OR a splash or two of your favorite hot sauce

Method

1. Melt 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauce pan over low heat while you chop veggies.

2. Add all veggies all at once and bring up heat to medium-high.

3. Cook veggies until slightly translucent and wilted, about 5-10 minutes depending upon the heat of your range.

4. Add your tomatoes. Then refill can 4 times with water (or you can just add 2 quarts water).

5. Add your bouillon cube and can of clams or clam juice.

6. Add salt and pepper.

7. Bring to a boil. then reduce to a simmer, thus allowing all flavors to meld. You can eat right away OR let flavors come together more, continuing to cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Alternative ingredient: Remember, a diced, peeled potato goes with pretty much any soup. If you’ve got a potato lying around (any sort will do) go ahead and add it in! While the potato cooks it absorbs all of the flavor of the soup-YUM!

Now my 30 minutes is up and I’m going to go enjoy mine…

When it snows, this is always the first thing Kate, Nick or I think of=) Colin just likes to see the excitement on our faces as we gather ingredients. These days, with a rather large belly, I’m more prone to stay inside and get the proper accoutrements ready from the comfort of my kitchen to be prepared for the onslaught of kid excitement!

This is our famed SNOW CUSTARD recipe. And it could not be easier OR more delicious!

Step 1: Send the kids out to gather fresh, unadulterated snow in a large mixing bowl.

Step 2: Once snow and kids are safely back inside, drizzle snow with either some sugar to taste or pure maple syrup.

Step 3: Mix in some milk, heavy cream, whipped cream, half n half…you get the idea.

Step 4: Pour in a touch of pure vanilla extract to taste.

Step 5: Divide equally into bowls OR just hand out spoons and share from the big bowl. Eat and Enjoy!

This truly is delicious and easy and certainly an experience that no snowy day should go with out!

Happy snow day everyone! Two feet and counting…

This morning I donned both my bathrobe AND my pastry chef’s hat as I awoke to a very snowy looking sky to make and bake some of my favorite Christmas cookies for my stepdaughter, Kate, and her class of 4th and 5th graders at Free Union Country School in Free Union, Virginia.  Needless to say, cookies are always a home-run when it comes to kids, however, my special recipe for Apple Cider Thumbprint Cookies is not your average treat.  Not only did the kids gobble up the Thumbprints, but the wonderful teachers did, too!  I like using leftover apple cider especially because often I tend to get overexcited about the Fall and buy way more apple cider than I need.  Once the cider loses its appeal, it tends to sit in my fridge for quite awhile.  Making it into syrup both extends its shelf life AND takes up less room in the fridge.  I’d love to share my recipe with you…

Apple Cider Thumbprint Cookies (for the Holidays and beyond!)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour (local flour from Ashland Milling Company in Richmond preferred)

1 teaspoon salt (anything but kosher or large crystal sea salt)

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1 cup organic cane sugar

1 large egg (from a local farm or your backyard)

1 teaspoon organic pure vanilla extract

For filling: 4 cups local Apple Cider, boiled down in a stainless steel saucepan until reduced to half a cup.  (Keep a glass pyrex measuring cup handy to pour hot syrup into to test when you’re getting close to reducing your cider down to half a cup.)  To spice things up, you can throw in some freshly grated nutmeg and a cinnamon stick to your cider before boiling down.  Also, this syrup can be made well in advance, and keeps in the fridge for at least 3 months!   (We like to use the extra as a topping for ice cream or in steamed milk, mulled wine or a hot toddy.)

***This is essentially a shortbread dough and has a very rich, soft & crumbly texture.  Perfect!

1. Beat butter and sugar for about 4 minutes or until fluffy and delicious smelling!

2. Add your egg and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate.

3. Measure flour and salt into a small bowl, whisk gently to combine, and using your half cup measure, slowly add your flour mixture to your butter mixture, a half cup at a time until all is incorporated.

4. Let your dough mix until thoroughly combined, meaning that all of your flour is absorbed into your butter mixture.

5. Spoon out your dough onto a large piece of plastic wrap, carefully wrap up to seal, flatten into a disc, and refrigerate for up to 1 hour OR overnight.  (I make this dough and the syrup the night before I bake the cookies).  While your dough is chilling, if you have not already done so, boil your cider into a syrup.  This should take about an hour, but depending on how much you use, could take more or less time.

6. Once your dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Remove dough from the fridge and using a small cookie scoop or a small spoon, remove a bit of dough about the size of a quarter.  Roll into a ball and place on a parchment or silpat-lined baking sheet.  Continue until you’ve got 15 dough balls on one baking sheet.  Incidentally, this recipe will make well over 30 balls depending on how big you make them.

7. With the flat bottom of a water glass, gently smoosh down each ball to flatten slightly.  For example, you might go from 1 inch in diameter to 1 1/4 inches in diameter.

8. With the handle end of a large wooden spoon, flour the tip and gently press into the center of each cookie, being careful not to push straight through to the other side.  If you do do this by accident, just re-roll and flatten your dough.

9. Finally, gently spoon into the center of each cookie your cider syrup, filling up each hole just shy of the top, as when the syrup cooks in the oven, it often expands and overflows, which is still just as delicious but a little sticky=)

10. Bake for 10 minutes in your oven on the top rack.  Syrup will be hot once baking is done and will still spill out of cookies, so keep baking sheet level while removing cookies to cool.  Allow cookies to cool completely.  At this time your syrup should be nice and gelled and your cookies ready for serving.
I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine does.  A good cookie recipe is one that, once baked, does not take long to disappear from the plate!