So, tonight, on meatless Monday, we are having some warm creamy delicious clam chowder! And then it occurs to us... clams... do they count? As meat? Do they have a "face"? A heartbeat? DANG! I guess it's "NOT SO MEATLESS" MONDAY... and we'll take it!
So, for delicious clam chowder, we start by prepping our veggies... peel and chop 6 carrots, 6 stalks of celery, chop 2 onions and wash and dice 6 potatoes (I used yukon gold).
Now, I'm not usually a "butter" girl... so much fat, no nutrition... but tonight, I was like Paula Deene at a butter convention! YIKES! I added half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons) to a pan and added the chopped veggies (onion, carrots and celery) and sauteed for about 10 minutes.
After the veggies saute, add the chopped potatoes, salt and pepper, and half a teaspoon of thyme and mix together on medium heat. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes with the veggies.
Next, I added the clam juice from 4 cans of clams (but not the clams.... yet). There wasn't enough liquid to cover the veggies, so I added about 2 cups of chicken stock to the liquid so it would cover the veggies. Let that simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and veggies are tender!
Now to thicken up this chowder, I added ANOTHER HALF STICK OF BUTTER and 1/4 cup of flour to a small pan to cook for a bit. I'm officially disgusted with myself (my bad butter-self), but my longing for tasty chowder is clearly prevailing.... cook the butter and flour for about 2 minutes. Then...
After the flour and butter gets bubbly... add about a cup of the liquid (stock) from the soup TO the flour mixture and whisk together.... then, add the flour mixture to the soup! You've basically made a roux with flour and butter, and it will make your chowder thick and rich and super delicious! (Thank you butter)
Next I added the 4 cans of clams and mixed in with the chowder!
And this is what I got! NOW THAT IS MONEY CHOWDER! I could stop there... but my alter ego, butter loving chowder loving sista went OVER THE TOP!!! That's right... after all that butter, I added...
One cup of light cream. That's right, cream... and I'm not apologizing!
Now, the way I look at it, I have a lot of butter and cream in that soup, but I also have a lot of veggies and clams in that pot too! Not to mention liquid (stock)... so... I'm eating clam chowder tonight, and I'm OK WITH THAT!!! If you make this chowder, you will understand!! And you might thank me, the clams, the butter, and the cream... just sayin'!
Now, how to garnish this delicious creamy piping hot chowder? Fresh baked bread????
Or the ever popular chowder crackers... so crispy, salty, crunchy... and killer good... hmmm...
And the winner is.... crackers! YES!!! Have some warm creamy chowder and crispy crunchy crackers too! That's Stevie's way! Maybe not "meatless" Monday... but delicious Monday, for sure!!!
So, tonight, on meatless Monday, we are having some warm creamy delicious clam chowder! And then it occurs to us... clams... do they count? As meat? Do they have a "face"? A heartbeat? DANG! I guess it's "NOT SO MEATLESS" MONDAY... and we'll take it!
So, for delicious clam chowder, we start by prepping our veggies... peel and chop 6 carrots, 6 stalks of celery, chop 2 onions and wash and dice 6 potatoes (I used yukon gold).
Now, I'm not usually a "butter" girl... so much fat, no nutrition... but tonight, I was like Paula Deene at a butter convention! YIKES! I added half a stick of butter (4 tablespoons) to a pan and added the chopped veggies (onion, carrots and celery) and sauteed for about 10 minutes.
After the veggies saute, add the chopped potatoes, salt and pepper, and half a teaspoon of thyme and mix together on medium heat. Let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes with the veggies.
Next, I added the clam juice from 4 cans of clams (but not the clams.... yet). There wasn't enough liquid to cover the veggies, so I added about 2 cups of chicken stock to the liquid so it would cover the veggies. Let that simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until the potatoes and veggies are tender!
Now to thicken up this chowder, I added ANOTHER HALF STICK OF BUTTER and 1/4 cup of flour to a small pan to cook for a bit. I'm officially disgusted with myself (my bad butter-self), but my longing for tasty chowder is clearly prevailing.... cook the butter and flour for about 2 minutes. Then...
After the flour and butter gets bubbly... add about a cup of the liquid (stock) from the soup TO the flour mixture and whisk together.... then, add the flour mixture to the soup! You've basically made a roux with flour and butter, and it will make your chowder thick and rich and super delicious! (Thank you butter)
Next I added the 4 cans of clams and mixed in with the chowder!
And this is what I got! NOW THAT IS MONEY CHOWDER! I could stop there... but my alter ego, butter loving chowder loving sista went OVER THE TOP!!! That's right... after all that butter, I added...
One cup of light cream. That's right, cream... and I'm not apologizing!
Now, the way I look at it, I have a lot of butter and cream in that soup, but I also have a lot of veggies and clams in that pot too! Not to mention liquid (stock)... so... I'm eating clam chowder tonight, and I'm OK WITH THAT!!! If you make this chowder, you will understand!! And you might thank me, the clams, the butter, and the cream... just sayin'!
Now, how to garnish this delicious creamy piping hot chowder? Fresh baked bread????
Or the ever popular chowder crackers... so crispy, salty, crunchy... and killer good... hmmm...
And the winner is.... crackers! YES!!! Have some warm creamy chowder and crispy crunchy crackers too! That's Stevie's way! Maybe not "meatless" Monday... but delicious Monday, for sure!!!
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