Amusing

I should have kept Peter's lovely bowls for this application - they were so dramatic and small enough to serve an amuse bouche in style. These little bowls will have to suffice, however, as the girls I gifted Peter's bowls with at Christmas were thrilled and they took them straight home with them.

I made an ersatz clam chowder this week. I had some shrimp stock in the freezer and some organic potatoes that were threatening to sprout in the veggie bin, so I improvised a seafood chowder. We tried it last night as a little starter; these bowls are only an inch or two in diameter. It's not the usual thick, creamy New England clam chowder but it's a beloved cousin to that.

I chopped the better part of a big onion and softened that in butter, then added celery and finely chopped potatoes. When I added the shrimp stock, I also put in a couple of bay leaves to stew with the stock. I added the can of baby clams last, along with the liquor in the can, and let it all simmer for about 20 minutes before pouring in some half and half. I did add about a tablespoon of flour cooked for a few minutes in a like amount of butter to give it a little more body but it wasn't like the gluey clam chowder one gets sometimes in restaurants where they don't know any better and think you can substitute thickness for flavor.

Briny and sweet at the same time, the tender little clams yielded their essence and extra texture to the chowder. The shrimp stock remained staunchly shrimpy despite the addition of the baby clams and clam juice from the can, lending the soup its own individual taste. The vegetables were soft but not limp, giving extra flavor and texture to the whole.

I served the amuse bouches just to taste it but we'll have it for lunch or dinner the next day, when it all has a chance to really meld into a satisfying seafood soup.

Rollercoaster Soup

I started constructing this soup weeks ago when we had a cooler shift in the temperatures and I thought fall was on the way. I bought shell-on shrimp then, only to have a heat wave, so I prepared the shrimp for a late summer cocktail. Of course, then it got cool again and I was suckered into buying more shrimp. Then I didn't have all the ingredients, having used some of them in subsequent meals.

Finally, finally, I thought I had it all together and the weather was right for soup.

You build this soup layer by layer, almost like building a house. For the foundation I used clam juice in which I simmered the shrimp shells and basil stems (the chowder has potatoes in it so I thought corn was redundant) for about 20 minutes, then strained into the pot where I had crisped the bacon bits and sautéed the chopped onions, garlic, fennel, carrots, just a smidge of red pepper flakes and celery (the recipe called for additional butter to sauté the veggies but I just used the bacon fat left in the pot).

Simmered all that together for a few minutes to mingle, adding fresh chopped ripe tomatoes toward the end, then added the shrimp at the last minute to cook in the residual heat from the broth. Despite the salty clam broth and shrimp, it needed some additional salt and some pepper to make it perfect.

Ladled it into a big bowl, topped with basil chiffonade and bacon bits. The flavors were subtle but distinct, the aromas complex and interesting, and the soup was surprisingly hearty despite the delicate ingredients. I think I'd use fresh corn next time instead of the spuds but that's nitpicking, really. It was worth the ups and downs and the wait for perfect Rollercoaster Soup weather.

Mismatched Lunch

Leftover shrimp soup and a Swiss cheese omelet with duxelles made for a mismatched lunch.

The flavors, however, were great together. The soup had gotten tastier and a little spicier overnight. I lifted the shrimp from the broth while it reheated, as they didn't need any more cooking, then slid them back in to serve and added a big squirt of fresh lime juice. The duxelles paired wonderfully with the Swiss cheese in the omelet, bringing an earthy note to the nutty cheese.

Oh, baby! The china may have been as mismatched as the food but the whole meal was a smooth symphony.