I have been meaning to write this blog for SO SO long. It's been a LONG time since I posted here. I am still crafting and cooking, I just don't have time to share here like I wanted to. My son is THIRTEEN now! I am as busy as ever with work, Scouts, PTA, and keeping up with the house and such.
I normally HATE a recipe that has a big old long story to it. I apologize in advance because this soup is SO good but so much also about the story and meaning behind it.
My mom, she passed away on August 13, 2016. In some ways, it seems like forever ago. In others, it seems like just yesterday. She shaped SO much of who I am today. She did the best she could with me and my sisters. I look like her, am creative like her. I think at times I should have been a teacher like her but I took a different path in my life. One of the things I remember the most about my mom is how she always was doing something for others sewing or cooking something for a church potluck or something. I would like to think she liked to cook, though my later memories of her were how she hated it. Being that I am now in my 40's been married for 20 + years, I kind of understand how at times it can be SO exhausting to have the responsibility of working full time, volunteering, doing what fills your own cup, AND putting dinner on the table every night. It sure gets old. Anyway, this is not meant to be a Debby downer post. It's mostly a love letter to my mom, and how much those specialty dishes shape your memories and childhood.
 |
Here is a picture of her and me from 1985 when my parents took us to Disneyland.
I miss her. |
If you knew my mom, you knew she was a good cook. She made the best soups. Some I liked more than others. My favorite was her Clam chowder, and chicken noodle soups. If you were at a church event and you saw these, you were in for a treat! This is the original instant pot! She had at least two or 3 of these babies. No, they never exploded, but one time she thought she left the pot roast on low when we went to church, and we got home and it was BURT because she left it on high. It was by God's grace the house didn't burn down. That may have been when she added a 3rd one to the mix. I think my dad had to use a sander to get all the burnt stuff off! |
| Did you ever use an old school pressure cooker? |
 |
| So much good food came from these growing up! |
My mom was the type of cook to just throw whatever in and wing it. I know at times she would make this soup with frozen hashbrowns! I myself say a recipe is a guideline, don't tell ME what to do! This has lead me to some success and failures in my kitchen. I cook to taste. When it's often good, I can't always reproduce it! I get that from her. <3
My little sister has asked me several times for this recipe; she reads and follows them to a T! I have often texted her what she needs. This has been a fun adventure for her because often I forget to tell her about some important ingredient or two. This is also a chance for me to write it down so I can share it with others. My hubby and son, say I should take it on shark tank and open a restaurant. Well, that seems like work, and my soup comes from a place of love, work makes it not worth it. So world here it is, my soup inspired from the way my mom cooked it growing up.
Warning! This makes a lot and it freezes well. It's so good though, it won't last. When you reheat it you will find it can be thicker leftover you can thin it out with more cream. :)
Ingredients: (I eyeball everything but tried to measure and write it down a while back. I am linking to the sites I found to help me estimate how much I used in measurements)
You will need at least two large pots for this recipe. Sorry, I have no idea how to make a small amount. Pictured above is a 5 quart, 2 different 4 quarter pots.
2 medium-size onions - chopped (about 4 cups)
4-6 Stalks of celery - chopped (about 2 cups)
APROX 5 lbs potatoes peeled and cubbed up small.
You can use pretty much any type of potato you have. Russett are the cheapest. They work fine but Yellow and Red make a much creamer soup. I will mix it up if I plan it and add a mixture of red and yellow.
1 - 2 packages of bacon if you like bacon, or making big pots use 2. If your pots are smaller one package is enough. I like to use Farmland Thick Cut Bacon when I make this soup. When my son was younger we got him to eat it by calling this bacon soup. (We did not tell him there were clams in it!)
1 51 oz (3lb) can of chopped ocean clams. You can find cans this size at Smart Food Service, Costco. (Anywhere that sells restaurant supplies) If you use the tuna can size of clams you will need 8 cans and I would put 4 in each pot.
Optional - clam juice. I will use a bottle of it, or a 51 oz can. It just depends if I have clam juice I don't use as much water when cooking the potatoes.
Chicken Stock broth mix - like better than bouillon. (you can find this at Costco or restaurant supply stores like Smart Food Service. I don't buy the brand name when I get it at Smart Foodservice. - 4 tablespoons - a big heaping scoop in each pot to taste.
Optional - Ham soup base mix (I only find this at Smart foodservice) Better than bouillon makes it but I have yet to find the ham one in a store - 1 tablespoon or spoonful to taste
Optional - Clam soup base mix. (again Smart food service or a restaurant supply store) 1 tablespoon or spoonful to taste
2 tablespoons of minced garlic. I keep a jar of this on hand in my fridge and just drop a couple big spoons full in the cooking celery and onions.
Roasted Garlic Red pepper seasoning 1-2 tablespoons per pot (I buy mine in the bulk foods section at Winco).
4 bay leaves (2 in each pot)
Old Bay seasoning (1 - 2 teaspoons per pot)
Pepper to taste
Liquid Smoke 1-2 teaspoons per pot to taste
Paprika 1-2 teaspoons per pot to taste
Salt - to taste (you may not need any it depends on what you think after adding all other seasonings)
1 Quart Heavy Cream
1 Quart Half & Half
1. Peel and chop your potatoes, you want to make them small and uniform cubes. (about the size of a sugar cube or a little larger. After all your potatoes are chopped dump them in your pan, and rinse them off to remove some of the excess starch. You should have about half of each of your pans full of chopped potatoes. just cover them with water and bring to a boil to begin cooking them.
To the potatoes and water, add your soup base mixes. I just take a big soup spoon and drop a scoop of each into each pot. It's probably about 1-2 tablespoons. If I use the ham and or clam stock I add that as well. Add the liquid smoke and all the other dry spices except the salt in the water and potato mix. Stir it up. If you're using clam juice you can add that now as well. Watch your liquid ratio because you will need to add the clams and your half -n-half and heavy cream later once the potatoes are all cooked. Bring potato mixture to a boil.
2. While potatoes are cooking slice up the bacon. TIP! Leave it in its stack right out of the package, slice it into "strips" dump it in a large skillet. It will separate while it's cooking. Cook the bacon until soft, not crispy. on med-high heat. stirring occasionally about 4-6 min. Start with #3 chopping celery and onions while it is cooking. Once it is to a soft just cooked texture, Remove it from heat, and spoon it onto a paper towel on a plate to drain off some of the fat. You can also just take a big spoon and dump it into the pots cooking the potatoes. You should be stirring the potato mixture occasionally to make sure they are not sticking to the bottom of your pots. If they are rapid boiling reduce heat to medium to simmer.
3. While the bacon is cooking chop up your celery and onions. Once you have removed the cooked bacon from your pan you are going to use the bacon grease to cook the celery and onions. My family is not a big fan of celery so I make sure I cook it extra long. They don't want to taste it. I personally love it, if you like a bit of texture you can cook them both at the same time or start with celery. I cook it for about 5 min, then add the onions After about 2-3 min add your fresh minced garlic to the skillet and cook this for about 2-3 more min or until the onions are translucent.
4. Take the celery and onion mixture and divide it in half and put it in each of the pots. If your pan has nice brown bits on it, I like to add some of the liquid from the potato mixture and deglaze my pan. I dump that into the pots as well.
5. If you have not added all the rest of the spices but salt add this to the potato mixture now. Open your clams and dump clams and their juice into the soup pots. Let it simmer for about 2 min. I now would taste it to see if it needs salt. Your clams will add salt to your soup which is why I add salt last.
6. Let the soup simmer for about 12-15 min until the potatoes are falling apart. My son is not a huge fan of chunks so I take the potato masher and mash up a lot of them but I do leave some. You can opt not to do this depending on your preference. The soup mixture may or may not be super thick depending on how many potatoes you used. (We use a lot of potatoes!)
7. Add half & half and heavy cream to the soup mixture. If it's rapid boiling you may want to take some of the soup mix and put it in a large 2-quart measuring bowl to warm up dairy so it does not curdle when you add it to the hot soup. You can also stir vigorously as you pour it into the soup, but be careful it's hot, and it can curdle if you don't do it right. I use half of the heavy cream, and half of the half & half into each pot. If you want to try to reduce the calories, you can only use half and half but I think the heavy cream makes it a richer more tasty soup!
8. If you find that your soup is thinner than you want it to be this is where I use the bag of instant potato mix. I REALLY like the flavor that the Idahoan applewood smoked bacon ones add to it! Start with about 1/4 of the bag and stir give it a minute or two, if it's still not thick enough add more. If it ends up too thick you can always add more half & half.
Serve with a side of nice crusty garlic bread. My family is partial to ciabatta bread! Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment