Since moving to Juneau I have had the oportunity to flex my coking muscles. It feels great to get to make good food for my family every day. I also like that it takes the stress out of choosing where to eat, especially in Juneau where the options are incredibly slim.
I was taught at a young age that the way to a mans heart is through his stomach. While I am not sure about this being a fact for D, I do know that food is something that brings families together. Since we are so far away and I can’t actually physically feed all of you, I thought I would share some of the recipies we are enjoying here, and then you can make them and feel like you are with us.
Some of these recipies are my own, most of them are adapted from sites that I use to find recipies. I just took the question out of it, is it really that easy?, Does it really taste good?, or could I actually make it?. I will post the recipies I have tried and have been successful for our family. The recipie I am sharing today was one that you can ask D I was very unsure of. On the drive home before I did the final steps I told D that I was willing to go get pizza or hot dogs on the way home because I was worried about dinner. But we stuck it out and it was delicious! I tweaked it a little to make it easier and to make less dishes for us!
Slow cooker New England Clam Chowder
Adapted from: http://www.bakedbyrachel.com/slow-cooker-new-england-clam-chowder/
Ingredients:
4 1/2 C frozen potatoes (southwest style hashbrowns)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic
1 C onion
1/2 C celery
4: 6oz cans clams
1 tsp salt
1/2 – 1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
1/4 C flour
3 1/4 C half and half
5-6 slices of bacon
1/2 tbsp bacon grease
Directions:
Prepare veggies: Chop onion, slice celery down the center lengthwise and then chop into small pieces, and finally mince 1 teaspoon worth of garlic. Take 5-6 slices of bacon, if you are using fatty bacon slice off the ends if they are extremely fatty and discard. Cut up bacon slices into small pieces by either slicing lengthwise in half or into thirds and then into small pieces.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Carefully add garlic, onion and celery. Sprinkle with thyme and red pepper flakes (if using). Cook, stirring frequently until heated through and very tender. The onions will be translucent and shiny. Transfer veggies to crock.
Drain 2 of the clams, and add all 4 cans of clams and clam juice. Stir contents well. Add flour, salt and pepper. Give another quick stir. Cover and cook on low for 10 hours or high for 5 hours. When 30 minutes remain, stir in half & half.
While that begins to warm and cook, heat up the large skillet again. Add in bacon pieces. Do not leave bacon unattended for any reason! Bacon can go from undercooked, to cooked to overcooked in a hurry. Depending on your bacon and the sizes of your pieces the timing will vary. At first cook with the bacon spread throughout the pan. When it begins to cook and produce more liquid grease, pull bacon pieces together in a small bunch. This will allow the grease to heat and cook the bacon better – or at least that’s how I feel. Toss and stir until it almost looks done then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Remove 1/2 tbsp bacon grease. Reserve a small portion of cooked bacon pieces (1 1/2 slices worth) for topping chowder later. Toss remaining larger portion of bacon pieces into crock and 1/2 tbsp bacon grease. Add in frozen potatos. Stir well. Replace lid and let cook.
Divide among bowls serving warm and sprinkling with bacon.
We didn’t put bacon on top instead just threw it all into the soup.
This dish in the crock pot looked really weird, I was really worried after the time was up that it was ruined it was a dark brown gravy looking thing and I decided to just give it a try. The half and half really bring this dish together but the bacon grease, DONT LEAVE IT OUT!! The bacon grease makes the soup delicious trust me!!
This soup was a hit we had it with homemade bread and it made the perfect meal, there wasn’t a drop left!
Just so Juneau 