Clam Chowder Tuesday

So last night IT SNOWED!!! I can't believe it's WINTER! Winter is the best season of all because of one, and only one sport:SKIING. Skiing is the best sport of all. You get to race down the hill on two wooden boards, at top speeds and you feel just like you're flying, except that your feet are still on the ground. You fly down to the bottom of the hill, and then you get on the chairlift which effortlessly takes you back up to the top of the hill. I could spend all day just going up and down on the ski hill, except if it weren't for that darn thing called cold. You are having the time of your life soaring up and down the hill, and then your fingers start to sting and go numb, and if you don't head inside to the warmth soon, it starts to spread to your toes, your arms, your legs, and eventually, you get so cold that you keel over and die. I'm just kidding! you don't die, but you do get unbearably cold if you don't go inside and warm up. Once you do go inside though,it is like a warm bliss hitting you full in the face. The sensation of walking into the lodge, and smelling all of the delicious food that you can buy for lunch. MMM MM MMM. The best way to warm yourself from the inside out is to buy just a small hot chocolate and drink it nice and slowly so that you can feel all of you being heated up from the inside. Another good way is to head yourself over to the food area of the lodge and to order yourself up a   nice     hot     bowl     of soup. You can get it in a bread bowl, or just the simple, classic way and eat it spoonful by spoonful. One of the best soups I know is is the Clam Chowder. I know I know, you're saying to yourself, ugh, this is just going to be another stupid recipe about clam chowder :(

Image Curtesy of Emoji Stickers

But seriously, I really think that you should try out this recipe for clam chowder.

It starts out as just, ooo, I think maybe tonight I'll try making clam chowder...

But then it turns into Alright everybody, instead of Taco Tuesday, it is Clam Chowder Tuesday!

Then, everyone who has tried the clam chowder says, YEA, BEST IDEA EVER! and before you know it, Clam Chowder Tuesday is a worldwide thing.
So, this amazing recipe that is going to start this Clam Chowder Tuesday things, comes from, once again, Covent Gardens Book of Soups.


As you know, we always list the ingredients for a recipe first, so here goes:

3 medium potatoes (about 700 grams) that are peeled and cut into quarters.
1.35 kilograms of baby clams in their shells
1 tablespoon of sunflower oil
175 kilograms unsmoked, streaky bacon, finely chopped
1 medium onion, very finely chopped
3 sticks of celery,very finely chopped
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme1 leveled tablespoon of dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon of ground white pepper
25 grams of plain white flour
570 milliliters of fish stock
150 milliliters of dry white wine
3 bay leaves
275 milliliters of double cream

The Garnish
Reserved clams in their shells
2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Prep and Cook Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Serves: 6

As you will no doubt be guessing, this part is where I tell you the steps to making the delicious clam chowder that is going to change taco tuesdays for the rest of time.

Simmer the potatoes in plenty of salted water until they are tender. Allow them to cool and slice.

Wash the clams at least 6 times in plenty of cold water to remove all the grit. Put them into a large saucepan, cover, and place over a high heat.
Cook until the clams are just open, while shaking the pan frequently.

Image Curtesy of Clam Chowder In A Bread Bowl

Carrot And Coriander Soup

When was the last time you made a soup and everyone who ate it said, "Oooo, this is delicious, is there anymore?" I know that I am not yet a mom, so I can't really say that I have cooked for my children, because lets face it, I'm still thirteen, but I am almost fourteen! Only two more months, YAY! Anyway, back to food, I am still a teenager, but I have made dinner at home a bunch of times, and believe it or not, it is really fun! The best part is when I put it on the table, and even my eight year old brother says "That smells delicious Daisy." One of my personal favorite soups to make is a Carrot and Coriander, and it is such a simple recipe, I could make it in my sleep. For a lot of soups that I like to make, I will usually go to the Allrecipes website, but today I am using the New Covent Garden's Book of Soups.

The ingredients that the New Covent Garden's Book of Soups has are:

• 25 grams(1oz) butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed 
• 550 grams(1 1/4 lb) carrots
• 450 grams(1 lb) of which are roughly chopped
• 110 grams(4 oz) of which are coarsely grated
• 1 liter(1 3/4 pint) vegetable stock
• a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1tablespoon chopped fresh coriander
• 150 mL(1/4 pint) single cream
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

The only other things you need are garnishes:

• 150 mL(1/4pint) yogurt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander

I personally leave out the yogurt just because I like it better plain, but I know that some people do like it with yogurt. I also only put a little bit of coriander, a pinch or two of fresh chopped coriander on each bowl.

The preparation and cooking time comes to a total of 40 minutes, and this recipe will serve about six servings.

To start off, you melt the butter in a covered saucepan and cook the onion and garlic until they are soft, without coloring. Then you add the roughly chopped carrots, vegetable stock, and nutmeg. You cover the pan and bring it to a boil and let it simmer gently until the veggies are tender. let them cool for a bit and then puree them in a liquidizer (I use a vitimix blender) and then put the soup in a clean saucepan and stir in the grated carrots, coriander, and cream. Taste the soup to see if it needs any salt or pepper and then if you want to put yogurt in this is when you add it and the coriander on top.

This is one of my all time favorite soup recipes and I highly suggest that you try it.

Image Curtesy Of My French Country Home