Before you decide to hunt for chowder recipes, you may want to understand a little about the tradition of Chowder soup. The traditional version of clam chowder soup is most often associated with the state of New England, but also dates back historical France. Recipes for chowder have been in cookbooks as early as the 18th Century. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Food and Nutrition, the definition of “chowder” is a thick soup made from shellfish or other clams, with onions, and pork or bacon. Many variations have been created from this original recipe, commonly known now as New England Clam Chowder.

One example of a variation of Clam Chowder soup is that of the Manhattan Clam Chowder. This one is made with a tomato base instead of a milk base, and is seasoned with Thyme. There are other variations of chowder as well, according to the availability of ingredients along the East Coast.

The taste of chowder is not limited to the Eastern United States, however. It has made its way into restaurants throughout America. There are even recipes for low-fat versions of this type of soup, which call for low fat milk and less amounts of butter. Low-fat recipes also call for half-and-half (half milk/half cream) instead of 100 percent cream.

Other variations of clam chowder call for additional ingredients such as mushrooms, cheddar cheese, salt, and spices such as pepper, allspice or cloves. In addition, a southwest version of this type of soup includes ingredients such as salsa, cilantro, or red peppers.

Another variation of chowder includes that of the vegetarian varieties made up of mostly beans and cheese. Other vegetarian chowders include an ingredient made from soybeans, called tofu. Other types of chowder include tortellini, which is a pasta stuffed with meat or cheese. Potato soup can be considered chowder as well, if the broth of the soup is not extra-thin.

Not only has chowder been made with clams or other shellfish, but it also has been made from every kind of meat imaginable. You can find a recipe, which calls for chicken instead of pork.

The term “chowder” in the present-day actually applies more to that of the consistency of the soup rather than the actually ingredients included in the soup. Usually chowder soups are more of the thickness of a stew or chili, rather than the thinness of regular soup.

If you want to find recipes, they are available in nearly every place you can find cooking supplies. In addition, you can find countless free recipes online. If you want to start simple and traditional, you may want to find a New England Chowder recipe for your first time out.

One recipe for New England clam chowder calls for one or more of the following ingredients:

o 5 lbs. of steamed and chopped Cherrystone clams
o 6 slices of cooked and crumbled Bacon
o 4 medium-sized baked potatoes, cut into ½ inch sizes
o 1 Large minced onion
o 1-1/2 Tbsp. minced garlic
o 1/2 cup fresh clam water, retained from steaming
o 1 cup clam juice
o 1/2 cup dry white cooking wine
o 1 tsp. fresh thyme
o 1 tsp. salt
o 1/4 tsp. black pepper
o 1 cup 2% milk
o 1 cup heavy cream
o 1 Tbsp. butter
o 1 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley
o Oyster crackers

When you steam the clams used in the above recipe you are advised to put them in just enough water to cover over the top of them. It usually takes 15 minutes of steaming for the clams to open. Once the clams are steamed that is the time during which you will save ½ cup of water to use in the chowder recipe.

Before you shell your clams, you must allow them to cool. After they are cool and you have removed the shells then you can chop the clam meat. In a large frying pan you can then cook the bacon until it is crisp. Then, you would put the bacon on a rack to dry, while saving the bacon grease.

Then, you will use the bacon grease in the frying pan that you need to further cook your potatoes (for 5 minutes to start) and then your onions and garlic (for 3 minutes along with the potatoes). All the contents that you have cooked in the frying pan will then be transferred to a large cooking pot.

You will then add the clam and the remainder of ingredients over time. Then, you will cook all the ingredients on low heat. The only ingredients that you would wait to add until last would be the crumbled bacon and the parsley. These would be added just before you serve the soup.

When you serve most chowder soups, especially the traditional one described above, it is recommended that you serve them nice and hot. If you don’t, it could take from the flavor that the soup has.

If you choose to let it sit in the refrigerator for a little while in order to let it coagulate, you could do that too. However, just remember that when you serve it, to heat it up as hot as you can again for best results.

Categories : Soups