New England Clam Chowder

Not only is this restaurant authentic New England clam chowder, it’s quick, easy and on the table in less than 30 minutes!

I learned to make cream soups from a friend who used to cook in a popular diner. She told me all cream soups are basically made the same and are made in less than 30 minutes.  Restaurant cooks don’t have time to really fuss she said. One I make all the time is cream of ham & potato.

This soup is about as authentic as it gets. It has great thyme undertones and is as smooth as silk made with heavy cream.

Creamy, authentic and quick!

Don’t let the heavy cream upset you–there’s only about a cup in there.  But if you must, you can use something lower in fat, but don’t use anything less than whole milk!   A cream soup should be made with cream.  In fact, my chef friend used nothing else but heavy cream in her cream soups.  Milk is OK, but certainly not as good as the real deal.  Half and Half cream would be a decent lower-fat substitute, but never and I mean NEVER use low-fat milk–it will taste absolutely gross.

Just consider that soup such as this is not an every-day indulgence and unless there’s a health problem, it’s not bad to live it up every so often.

To turn this into Manhattan clam chowder, substitute canned diced tomatoes (along with the can juice) for the cream and a few drops of Tabasco and some crumbled bacon.

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New England Clam Chowder

Not only is this restaurant authentic New England clam chowder, it’s quick, easy and on the table in less than 30 minutes!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: Seafood, soups

Cuisine: American

Keyword: clam chowder, new england

Servings: 3 -4

Calories: 467kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 each ribs celery diced
• 1 each small onion chopped
• 3-4 each small potatoes peeled and diced (about 1/2-inch cubes)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper use white if you can
• 1 10 oz baby clams & the liquid
• 1/2 cup clam juice
• 1 cup water
• 1 each chicken stock cube
• 1 cup heavy cream

THICKENING

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 3 tbsp water

Instructions

• Melt butter over medium-low heat in a large heavy saucepan.
• Add the onion, celery, thyme, salt and pepper. Saute until onion is soft, stirring occasionally.
• Drain liquid from can of clams into a measuring cup. Add enough water to make 1 cup of liquid.
• Add the clams, the reconstituted can liquid, clam juice, stock cube and potatoes to the pot with the sauteed mixture. Turn heat to high and cook until liquid begins to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 15 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
• Mix the thickening ingredients until smooth. Gradually stir into the hot soup mixture in the pot--this will be VERY thick!! Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture bubbles.
• Add the cream, stirring while adding, until soup is of the desired consistency. You can use more or less cream as desired. More if you like thinner soup, less if you like a really thick soup. The one cup of cream produces a thick-ish soup.

Nutrition

Calories: 467kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 45g | Saturated Fat: 28g | Cholesterol: 150mg | Sodium: 1129mg | Potassium: 84mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1680IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 56mg

New England Clam Chowder

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

 

These quinoa stuffed peppers are packed with delicious salsa flavor.  It’s a great meatless vegetarian meal easily made vegan with substitutions.

I fell in love with these the first time I saw them.  My friend Lori made them and posted a pic on her Facebook wall.  I immediately started drooling because they looked so good.

Salsa Adds YUM

She’d said she got the recipe off the box of quinoa, but she’d thrown out the box and couldn’t remember the brand.  I so badly wanted this recipe!  A few months later, she remembered the brand and sent me the recipe from their website. Unfortunately, the brand name was no part of the link she sent me nor was it stated in the recipe.  All I know is it was a blue box, so she said.  I buy my quinoa in bulk so I am not familiar with brands!!  Anyway, credit here goes to some brand of quinoa in a blue box

A Red One

 

Now A Green One

 

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

The dish this is baked in is the pie plate from the Temp-Tations Specialty Baking Set.  The set includes this dish, a 6-cup muffin pan and a standard loaf pan.  The item is retired, but some stock is still available on
Temp-tations.com

Temp-Tations Old World Specialty Baking set

Recipe as it’s stated is fine for vegetarians who eat dairy, but you can turn this vegan by replacing the butter with olive oil and omitting the cheese (or finding a vegan cheese substitute), but even though I am a cheese fanatic, these peppers do not need cheese to be great.  In fact, next time I may omit it entirely—and I LOVE cheese.  That’s how good these are.  You won’t miss meat here.  These are wonderful.

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Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

These quinoa stuffed peppers are packed with delicious salsa flavor.  It’s a great meatless vegetarian meal easily made vegan with substitutions.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Course: Everyday Meals, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: quinoa, stuffed peppers

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 475kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa uncooked
• 2 cups water divided
• 4 large or 6 medium sweet bell peppers
• 1 medium onion diced
• 1/2 lb. fresh mushrooms sliced
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 28 oz diced tomatoes (reserve juice)
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 12 oz salsa
• 2 tbsp dry sherry
• 10 oz mozzarella shredded (reserve a bit for the top)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. You will need either a 13x9 or 11x7-inch baking pan (or any that will fit the peppers and the remaining quinoa mixture)
• Cook quinoa according to package directions using 1 cup uncooked quinoa in 1 1/2 cups water. Quinoa cooks like rice. I used my rice cooker for this.
• Cut off and reserve the tops of the bell peppers. Hollow them out then steam both the tops and the peppers in the remaining 1/2 cup of water until slightly soft but not limp; drain and cool slightly.
• In a large skillet or saute pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and onion and saute until tender.
• Drain the can of diced tomatoes, but reserve the juice. Add the drained tomatoes, garlic and the salsa to the onion/mushroom mixture. Stir well and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
• Add the sherry and stir well. Fold in the cooked quinoa and the mozzarella cheese. Stuff peppers with the quinoa mixture--you will use about half of the mixture to stuff the peppers. Place stuffed peppers upright in a baking dish and sprinkle tops of each pepper with reserved cheese.
• Stir the reserved juice from the can of tomatoes into the remaining half of the quinoa mixture and pour around peppers in the baking pan.
• Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. Top with reserved pepper tops and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.
• Serves 4-6 depending on size of the peppers.

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 475kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 71mg | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 722mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1094IU | Vitamin C: 99mg | Calcium: 403mg | Iron: 3mg

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