The best chowdah I've had in my life came from the Boston Chowda Company at Faneuil Hall in downtown Boston. It is served in a sourdough bread bowl, people! With chowdah crackahs! And it soaks all in to the bread so when you are done, you scrape out the bready, chowdahy....oh, sorry. You still here? Okay. Ahem.
My point (?) here is that my attempts to replicate this delicious chowdah have been...well, mostly in my head and therefore not entirely effective. As such, I require the benefit of your expert tutelage! What is your favorite chowdah recipe (preferably clam, but I can work with you think-outside-the-boxers)? Here are my requirements:
- It has to be THICK. This is non-negotiable. I like my chowdah to be so thick that you can turn the whole bowl upside down like they used to do in those Dairy Queen Blizzard commercials (now that I think of it, I think they were actually required to do it IN PERSON too when you ordered one!). Okay, maybe not that thick, but you get the idea. No runny chowdah, and DEFINITELY no "Choup", Rachael Ray, you fucking perky freak.
- No low-fat substitutions, or God forbid, fucking TOFU or something. It's against my religion (The Church of DELICIOUSNESS!).
- It has to use ingredients I can get here in mostly chowdah-less Texas. I can get reasonably fresh clams, for example, but not, say, a vial of water plucked from Boston Harbor at high tide and blessed by an Irish priest.
Regulators...MOUNT UP! Leave your recipe in the comments or email me at messingwithtexas AT gmail DOT com. I promise I'll make some of these (at my leisure, of course) and let you know (eventually). I'll bet you're on the edge of your seat. This is kind of what it's like being my friend in real life.
P.S.-Do you work at The Boston Chowda Company? I will give you ONE MIIILLION dollahs for the recipe. Providing you take Schrute Bucks, of course.
P.P.S.-Spellcheck is not AT ALL happy with my spelling of CHOWDAH. This entry lit up like a goddamned Christmas Tree.
44 comments:
I got nothing... other than a good chuckle over "This entry lit up like a goddamned Christmas Tree." My posts almost always took this way... come to think of it I usually leave out entire words (or thoughts in some cases)when commenting and even writing... Ah, good luck on the quest for clam chowdah and let me know when you find it because I like you love a good one but I do not dare try any unless I am in a location that would allow me to consider they might have fresh chowder like Boston or San Fran for instance...
I'm no help at all. I am, however, heading off to buy some lunch and nothing but *thick* chowder will do now, which sucks, as I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen.
I love clam chowder (or any kind of seafood chowder really) and have a husband who intensely dislikes seafood. I used to make a great lobster bisque, which was a lot like clam chowder (the New England variety, I presume), but I'll have to track down the recipe, so I may send it to you eventually, but don't hold your breath, 'cause you'd surely die before it got to you.
I have no recipe to help you, but I wanted to say that I'm pretty sure those DQ people still turn the Blizzards upside down before they serve them. But they do it in a totally lethargic, not-even-half-hearted way where they just sort of flick their wrist for a nanosecond while handing you the Blizzard.
JMC-Oh yes New England of course. None of that Manhattan bullshit. BR would have apoplexy since we might be somehow supporting the YANKEES or something.
And yet someone else (me) commenting to say: I really got nothing from personal experience, but I lay my humble offering below.
Before we get there, can I chime in to the weirdness of being married to someone who GREW UP IN A PLACE FAMOUS FOR IT'S SEAFOOD, AND YET DOESN'T TOUCH THE STUFF? I don't understand, but my husband is the same way. Born & bred in Seattle, but absolutely detests salmon in any form - and seafood in general. I don't get it.
I offer you this recipe of Ivar's Clam Chowder (they're a seafood chain based in the northwest). As I said, I haven't made this myself, but it's the only clam chowder that Chip will lower himself to eat.
http://www.recipezaar.com/101699
Whatever you do - DON'T LOOK AT THE NUTRITION FACTS LISTED ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE PAGE. THE HORROR!
Whimsy-Thanks! And, uh, no worries on the nutritional facts. You may have guessed that that's not really how I roll. Haha.
People, I am accepting LINKS here, it's not like this has to be your grandmother's recipe that she created herself while working as a cook on a clammin' boat near the Grand Banks.
mmm, I had some damn good chowdah when I was in Maine, but I can not help you with the recipe. Will be looking for recipes here though!!
mmmm, chowder. I love a good chowder and I've never been able to make a good one at home. I totally agree that it has to be thick, but my home brew is always too soupy. I'm going to be paying close attention to your comments.
I'm glad someone already touched on the clarification that it has to be New England clam chowder and not that red nasty stuff. Nothing but creamy goodness to clog my arteries, baby. I do love a good clam chowder but have yet to find a decent recipe. I think my grandmother has one, though. I will email her and ask for it.
DUDE. We are soulmates! I love clam chowder so very very very very very very very very much.
So much that I pay money to eat it at nearby cafes instead of making it myself, but I did find this link: http://www.mysimon.com/9015-10970_8-29726278.html.
I don't know if it's the same Boston Chowdah Co. (How many could there be? Probably LOTS), but I hope it is.
I got nothing on clam chowdah, but I want to know where to sign up for the Church of Deliciousness. That's a religion I could get behind.
I made a great one once, but it wasn't really thick and creamy, but that could have been my doing, not the recipe's fault. I will look it up tonight.
Love the link to Schrute Bucks. I wish they had made the Stanley nickel.
P&D-This is intriguing, and worth a try. I like how they ship it in HALF GALLON containers. I wonder if freezing and then thawing makes it...weird, though?
I looked into getting chowder shipped from Legal Seafoods once (famous Boston restaurant), and with shipping it was like $20 for a quart. I am no cheapie, but um...no.
Oh, I wish I could help. But, growing up and living in a land-locked Big Red Square State has not afforded me the opportunity to learn how to make Chowdah.
However -- too funny: "Rachael Ray, you fucking perky freak."
Can't wait for you to share the recipes!
You asked I offer:
http://gonewengland.about.com/od/morerecipes/r/recclfhschowder.htm
Just look at the name of the link?!
http://gonewengland.about.com/od/kimskitchen/r/reckimschowder.htm
Hmm, thick and hearty sounds like it might work for you?!
http://gonewengland.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=gonewengland&cdn=travel&tm=38&f=10&su=p531.31.152.ip_p531.29.420.ip_p284.8.150.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=0&zu=http%3A//www.virtualcities.com/ons/me/z/mez87012.htm
And this beauty is even called CHOWDAH. Should I Google Chowdah do you think?
Ive not tried these so I am just sayin' DO NOT HOLD ME ACCOUNTABLE, PLUZ!!!
You MUST stop.
1) Calling All CAHS
2) *record screeching noise*
3) chowdahy
4) mostly in my head and therefore not entirely effective
5) Rachael Ray, you fucking perky freak
6) The Church of Deliciousness
7) vial of water / high tide / Irish priest
8) at my leisure / eventually
9) kind of what it's like being my friend in real life
This is too much funny for a single post. You have violated statutes, of that I am sure.
WTOW-Okay, I've printed all of those off. Thanks! I think the restaurant recipes are usually a pretty good bet.
You would think that I would have tried the googling thing already, but...negatory. Why google when I could spend 20 minutes crafting a 10 paragraph blog entry asking others to do it for me?
Swistle! You left out the BEST one (in my opinion):
"Regulators, MOUNT UP!"
Sorry, Tessie, but I am another New Englander who hates seafood. Eeeeeek, please don't shun me! I'd tumble for hotdish!
stephanie- /unshun/ well, you could always get back into my good graces by submitting a hotdish recipe! /reshun/
are you interested in a little something called tater tots?
stephanie- /unshun/ HELL YEAH I AM! /reshun/
ok, it's totally gross-sounding, BUT it's a clergy member at the Church of Deliciousness. i swear.
ingredients:
1 bag seasoned tater tots
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can corn (or like half a bag of frozen)
1 lb of ground beef or turkey
1 sm. yellow onion, chopped
1 TON of shredded cheddar cheese
"other stuff": salt, pepper, garlic powder, worcestershire sauce
OK: *preheat oven to 350
*saute onions in a skillet for a few minutes, then add meat, "other stuff" and cook through.
*pour both soups in a bowl, add corn -- when the meat is cooked, add to bowl and MIX IT UP.
*pour slop into a baking dish.
*here's the fun for little kids part: arrange tater tots row by row across the top until it's entirely covered.
*dump cheese evenly over that.
*bake for about 25 minutes.
*welcome to heaven.
stephanie- /unshun/ Aaand...you are back.
As always, Swistle takes the lead with the greatest comment. I heart this post with every fiber of my being. Too. Flippin. Funny.
I had no idea you belonged to the Church of Deliciousness, too! Hope to see you at the potluck!
My brain is still scrambled from the mind-blowing display of fucking hilarity on here. I would die of mediocrity in my day if not for you, my dear. CHOWDAH!
Ah, I guess I do like to ruin the well crafted ten paragraph blog by googling...SORRY. It is a finely crafted post and I giggled quite a bit especially about the Rachel Ray comment but I still had nothing and it seems others did not as well so I did not want to leave you empty handed after such a fabulous post.
I hope the recipes are good & the CHOWDAH one seemed the easiest - even I might consider trying that one if clams did not frighten me...
You just reminded me of one of my most favorite meals. Before I get all braggy about my old co-worker who used to be a chef and is from Boston AND is reputed to make a mean bowl of chowdah, let me get a hold of him and get the darn recipe first. Oh wait, too late, I got all braggy. Hold on while I try to get that recipe.
Indeed that was hilarious and I am now hungry.
Unfortunately I have no idea how to make Chowdah, but I do know how to make lobster bisque . . Do you like the lobster bisque? Too thin? I think I could eat lobster bisque every day and twice on Sundays.
Dude, I HATE chowdah, but I LOVE this post.
Funny stuff, missy. Funny stuff.
I love picking out the clams, but not so much eating the chowdah.
I keep pissing my pants over the WORD "chowdah" -- I don't think, after this, that I will ever call it chowder again.
I searched on topsecretrecipies.com (where they re-create restaurant & brand-name recipes) but no chowdah. Maybe you should email the guy and ask him to clone that Boston crap you like. (Yeah, no seafood for me, thanks.)
Damn it! Limit of times I can correctly spell recipes: evidently ONE. Too bad it was in the part you could have cut & pasted into a browser. Hey, at least I didn't make it into a convenient LINK, huh?
See, I'd like the tivo 8-second rewind HERE too. Thank you.
Isn't it against a commandment to put ground turkey in a hot dish because it is too healthy?
Here is a hotdish that claims to taste like clam chowder:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clam-Chowder-Casserole/Detail.aspx
Sounds rather revolting to me.
Clam chowder is on thing I've never made so no recipe here, sorry. However if you ever want a crab bisque with enough sherry to get a little drunk, let me know.
Tess,
My favorite clam chowder is the kind I get at Disneyland. It is served in a sourdough bowl, and the chowder soaked bready goodness after you finish the actual chowder is my favorite part. This is the recipe straight from City Hall at the Happiest Place On Earth. I've made it at home and it's almost as good as at the park....I could almost hear the dixieland jazz in New Orleans square while I ate it :) Definitely not even close to low fat.
Disneyland's Clam Chowder
Ingredients
1/4 lb. butter
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 quart milk
1 1/2 cups chopped clams, reserving juice
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cube instant chicken broth
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. thyme
1 1/2 cups cooked and diced potatoes
Directions
In a medium saucepan, melt butter; add onions, celery, red and green peppers and thyme. Sautee until tender. Add flour and chicken broth cube; cook over low heat for 5-10 minutes.
Add milk and reserved clam juice. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Add clams, potatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes over low heat.
Yield: 4-6 servings.
Source: City Hall
Tessie, I have no chowder recipe.
I am here to tell you that it's been TWO DAYS since I read about pumpkin sauce and it is STILL IN MY HEAD. WTeverlovingF?!?
You are all awesome. I am glad I had a lame work thing yesterday afternoon so I could come back to all these SA-WEET recipes.
WTOW-Wait, I think I sounded bitchy in my comment, I WANTED links! I had nothing! Thank you! I meant to say that I was HOPING someone would Google for me, since I was TOO LAZY!
MOTY-What, no comment on Regulators...MOUNT UP? THAT WAS FOR YOU, MAN!
Erin-Sorry dude, and I know just how you feel.
An addendum to my recommendation of the Disneyland chowder - I live in CA, not too far from the San Fransisco and Monterey areas where I love to get fresh clam chowder on the piers....but I like Disneyland's even better :)
Too funny. LOVED the naughty words. LOVED every bit of it.
Alas, *sacrilege against the Church of Deliciousness about to follow*
The only chowder (I hesitate to call it chowdah...you will see why in a minute) I have ever eaten...has been from a can.
*wince*
Tessie: Thanks for the innuendo, girl. Hmmmm. A perfect weekend would perhaps be good sex and CHOWDAH? I think that shall be the new word for the deed. As in, "Gee, it's the weekend and I'm feeling sexy. Time for some CHOWDAH!"
Uh, wait. That's not an innuendo. It's a lyric for crissake! Can you tell what's on my mind? LORD HELP ME!
MOTY-AHAHAHA! You are awesome. I will accept innuendo as well. And replacing CHOWDAH for the deed? I will not be able to purge that from my mind. THANKS.
Hey, anything for you...
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