Manhattan (Red) Clam Chowder

Manhattan (Red) Clam Chowder

 When it’s cold and rainy, like it is today, there is almost nothing more pleasing than a bowl of soup. Today, it’s clam chowder. I love all three versions: New England; Manhattan; and, Rhode Island. I’m doing the Manhattan version because it’s pretty simple to prepare, and because it tastes really good. It’s the kind of vision I can spend hours enjoying while riding my motorcycle and anticipating making camp at the end of the day. (See my previous blog to make more sense of this.)

I like to use fresh ingredients whenever I can, even though that’s a challenge on a lengthy motorcycle trip. I have managed to carry onions, potatoes, and even celery with reasonable success. The celery wilts a little, but hey, this is camping. If it won’t make you sick, it’s usable, right? For my chowder, these are the fresh ingredients, along with a fresh jalapeno pepper.

For cooking, I have a stainless steel, mess kit-style lidded pot, but I also have a stainless steel saucepan I picked up at a yard sale (great source of camping gear). My trusty knife has two blades. The thin one, I use for food preparation, and the heavier blade for everything else. I’ve tried all sorts of eating cutlery, but it’s hard to beat a real spoon, a decent fork, and a knife that isn’t going to slice my plate in half, like the one in the picture. Hey, what am I saying? I write murder mysteries; I should use an even bigger, sharper knife.

So, here’s the recipe.

1 small onion, diced.

1 small stalk of celery, including the leafy ends, diced.

1 jalapeno pepper, diced.

2-3 very small potatoes, chopped.

½ teaspoon mixed dried herbs (like Italian, or herbes de Provance)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 can of chopped clams

Sauté the onion, celery and pepper in olive oil until softened a little, using your saucepan or pot. Add the herbs and salt and pepper to taste while sautéing the vegetables. When they start to soften, add the juice from the can of tomatoes and cook for another five minutes, Throw in a little white wine as well, if you have any. Then add the diced tomatoes and the clams, including the clam juice in the can. Cook at a simmer until the potatoes are tender, about twenty five to thirty minutes.I hope you enjoy it, if you give it a try. Love to have you share your recipes and experiences in the comments section, and thanks for visiting.

 

So, What's For Dinner?

So, What’s for Dinner?

I understand some people prepare a menu for an entire week, shop for the ingredients in one trip, and know what they are going to do for every meal. I’ve often thought that would be great. Really organized. Just not me. Not by a long shot.

At home, making good use of things in the freezer requires at least thinking about the evening meal that morning so you can take the meat, or whatever, out in time for it to thaw. I’ve never had much luck using the microwave for that task if I let it wait until the last minute. Sometimes I do manage to remember to take something out of the freezer early enough for it to thaw. I feel real proud of myself when I do. Usually I can do pretty well with things on hand and don’t need to make an emergency run to the store in order to fix dinner. Not always though.

So, how can a pantzer (seat of the pants writer who does not use extensive outlining) avoid mealtime disaster on a camping trip, such as a six-week cross-country motorcycle run? Well, there’s always accepting mealtime monotony. I’ve done that one. But another approach I’ve used is to get creative with what I carried in my pack and carefully plan out the next meal in the hours leading up to it. (You see, I’m actually somewhere between a pantzer and an outliner when I write my mysteries). When driving, I watch the road, but I think about other things too, and a few hunger pangs inspire a lot of cooking imagination.

You see, when I’m on my motorcycle, cooking is one of the things I like to think about. Writing is another. A cold, wet day can easily send visions of clam chowder coursing through my mind for hours ahead of time. I used to carry a tin of chopped clams. Now you can buy them in foil packages. I carry some fresh goods too, like a few small onions, a couple of jalapeno peppers, some small potatoes. A diced carrot, even if a bit limp, or a wilted celery stalk can still work well in a soup, stew, or chowder. Maybe I’d throw in a couple of sourdough biscuits for good measure.

I like to see what I can accomplish from scratch as much as possible. It’s part of why I like camping. It’s getting down to basics, or in today’s parlance I suppose I should say it’s getting down WITH basics. If I’m lucky I’ll even have one of those little cartons of wine to go with my meal. Basics plus a little class. And the hours I’ve spent in mental preparation only add to the expectation and enjoyment at the end of the day.

How do you handle meal planning when you’re camping? What kind of meals do you rely on, and how do you prepare for them ahead of time? Hope you’ll share some of your stories, and thanks for visiting my blog.

P.S. Next blog post will offer a recipe for clam chowder, road warrior style. Come check it out.