winter recipe

Wintertime is coming as the Starks would say! One of the staple meals in the PNW is clam chowder. Those of you in the PNW probably remember the fantastic clam chowder at Jake’s Seafood in Portland. I use the past tense because, like many others, I no longer feel safe in Portland due to many political and social factors. This is my take on Jake’s Clam Chowder (BTW: It’s not in the official Jake’s Seafood Cookbook).

Wenatchee Clam Chowder


Ingredients:

1 pound bacon

2 cans each of chopped/minced clams, whole baby clams, clam juice.

½ cup sweet onion, finely diced

½ cup celery, finely diced

½ cup grated carrots

1 pound of frozen clams, in the shell

1 bag of diced hash-brown potatoes

1-1 ½ quarts heavy cream

Recipe:

Fry bacon until almost crisp. Dice crumble and set aside. Sauté onion and celery until soft in the bacon grease. Add chopped clams, baby clams and clam juice. Simmer. Slowly add cream. Microwave the frozen clams and discard any that do not open. When it resumes simmering, add potatoes, remaining clams, & carrots, and simmer until potatoes are done. Season with Mrs. Dash’s Seasoning (I prefer the Original Blend but that’s up to you).

Ladle into bowl, garnish with clam shells from the frozen clams and parsley. Serve with oyster crackers and cheese biscuits or hot sourdough bread.

Modifications:

Delete anything you don’t like; use ½ & ½ instead of cream; thicken with flour, etc.

 

I will give this recipe a shot.

I once visited Portland for a few days about 10 years ago for a guys snowboarding trip, thought about moving there, I'm glad I didn't. Which is a shame because it was a pretty rad city.

 

I went several times a year to our Regional Office. We took the tram everywhere (Jakes, VooDoo Donuts, McCormick and Schmitts, Columbia and Pendleton outlets, Chinatown, etc.) =never felt threatened at all and at any hours.

 

I will definitely try your clam chowder, but I will remove the diced sweet onion. Usually, the sweet onion gives a peculiar taste to the meal that I can't stand. Also, I want to make a small experiment, and instead of bacon, I will use corned beef. Lately, I've been cooking a myriad of slow cooker corned beef meals. The slow cooker is a lifeline for those who want a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

 

sounds good