I’ve got a unusual relationship with New England. Or maybe it’s the usual one, now that I think about it. I was born there but moved away when I was very young. My spouse is from there. My brother and his family live there. I don’t have many allegiances when it comes to American sports, but I’ve got a Red Sox hat that’s older than some most of the staff I’ve worked with.
On the other hand, I have an entirely unfounded dislike of that guy who used to be quarterback for that football team, and despite my extensive collection of baseball caps, I can’t really claim I’m anything other than the consummate Ohioan.
That being said, New England, and Boston in particular (with a heavy side of Cape and Islands) – yes, I know both are in Massachusetts, but those places and Massachusetts are different things. Rectangles squares and whatnot – have a peculiar and particular mythology in my family.
My parents met in Boston having both moved there from Chicago – where they didn’t meet despite a whole bunch of friends in common. For my folks, who’re even nerdier than me and from smaller, newer cities in Ohio and Arizona, Boston was “The Big City” - a metropolis of academia and knowledge, history and tradition.
And seafood. Seriously. Before it was a chain you find near that downtown mall, my father couldn’t see a bowl of chowder or a plate of fish without invoking the holy mantra of Legal Sea Foods – which at the time they lived there was basically a fish shack attached to a grocery in Inman Sq. For a kid from deserts of Southern Arizona, now stranded in the corn barrens of Central Ohio – the only readily available fresh seafood being the weekly Friday Fish Fry (Fresh Lake Erie Perch!) at that place up on the highway out of town - that memory of real fish was a real thing.
This week’s menu is a truncated, but satisfying cold weather meal – reminiscent of one of the best meals I’ve ever had: a paper cup of chowder and a cup of coffee (spiked), sitting on a curb in the rain outside Faneuil Hall on a St. Patrick’s day in the Early ‘90s. It wasn’t the best chowder, and it was terrible coffee. But as much as I care about quality food, that’s not what makes a great meal. It’s the experience and the memory.
And soup in a paper cup.
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White Cheddar Chive Biscuits
There’s probably nothing New England about these – other than that I used cheese from Vermont to make them. A lot of Americans – apparently including me - associate cheese studded quick breads with a certain mall outparcel seafood chain, and conversely, associate those biscuits with seafood.
So, I made my own version. Mine aren’t orange. At least not completely.
I can also tell you – from the rather tasty madefromleftovers breakfast I enjoyed while editing photos this morning – these things make excellent biscuits and gravy – different, but excellent.
Makes 4 (large)-12(mini) biscuits depending on size.
2 cups AP Flour
1 cup cultured buttermilk
1 cup loosely packed shredded white cheddar cheese
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp minced chives
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp baking soda
Cream of buttermilk and additional shredded cheese for topping
Preheat your oven to 400°F.
Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and garlic powder in a large bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Add the butter, and cheese, and using a pastry cutter or cold hands, work the butter into the flour to create a rough crumb.
Add the chives and buttermilk, and stir gently to combine.
Roll out into a long rectangle, then letter fold into thirds.
roll out to 1 inch thickness, and cut into squares.
Brush each square with a bit of cream and top with a small bit of shredded cheese.
Arrange on a parchment or silicone lined sheet pan.
Bake until browned and fluffy - about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the biscuits.
Slightly Fussy New England Clam Chowder
This isn’t the clam chowder I taught myself to make from a cookbook over my mom’s fridge sometime in the late 80’s. It’s thicker, has a more refined flavor, and because I’m a glutton for punishment is a little fussier to make.
It’s also better. That stuff basically tasted like a thin bacon flavored potato milk with chewy clam bits – not that I didn’t love that too. The fussiness come from throwing some probably wholly unnecessary but still satisfying French technique at the soup, starting with what’s almost a mixpoix and finishing by thickening it with a light roux. Is it traditional? Probably not in the “historic recipes include only …” way, but in the paper cup from a seaside shack way, it mostly passes muster.
2 6.5 oz cans chopped clams (or equivalent in fresh clams – do not use canned whole/belly clams)
2 large russet potatoes
1 cup heavy cream
1 large onion
2 stalks Celery
2 pieces smokey bacon
2 oz fino sherry (opt)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
¼ cup AP flour
1 tbsp minced parsley
¼ tsp crushed or minced fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
salt to taste
Wash, peel, trim, and dice the potatoes into ½ inch dice.
Peel, trim, and cut the onion into ¼ inch dice.
Clean, trim, and dice the celery.
Set aside half the celery and onions, then very finely mince (by hand, or using a food processor) the remaining ½ of both vegetables.
Cut the bacon into ¼ inch strips.
Add the bacon, minced onion, minced celery, parsley, and thyme to a thick bottomed pan over medium low heat.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion is translucent, and some of the fact has rendered from the bacon, but before any browning occurs.
Add the diced potato, juice from the clams (or clam juice if using fresh clams), and enough water to just cover the potatoes.
Bring to a low simmer.
Cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, add the butter and AP flour to a pan over medium low heat.
As the butter melts, stir to integrate completely with the flour.
Cook for two minutes, taking care not to brown the mixture at all.
Add the roux to the soup mixture, stirring to mix well.
Return the soup to a simmer and cook until thickened.
Add the remaining vegetables, the clams, the black pepper, the sherry (if using) and cream.
Bring back to a to a low simmer and cook just until the new vegetables are barely tender.
Check for seasoning – how much salt this dish needs is a matter of preference, and different clams/canned clams can have vastly different salt levels.
Maple Apple Hand Pies
I’ve basically shared this dessert before - though I didn’t remember that at the time I was putting together this week’s menu. The last time I made a New England themed menu, I included a rustic maple apple crostada.
This is the same thing in a slightly less rustic but no less unassuming handheld format.
I guess I really like maple and apple. Maybe some of that New England really rubbed off.
Makes four generously sized hand pies.
2 ½ cups AP Flour
10 tbsp Unsalted Butter
pinch of salt
½ cup cold water
6 large granny smith apples
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp corn starch
¼ tsp fresh grated cinnamon
1 egg (for egg wash)
4 tbsp granulated sugar (for sugar glaze)
Add the flour, salt, and butter (cut into small cubes) to the bowl of a food processor.
Pulse, while adding the ice water, until the mixture begins to come together.
Turn out onto a clean surface and knead just until smooth.
Divide into four pieces, and shape into flat disks.
Wrap tightly with plastic and allow to rest 30 minutes.
Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1-inch pieces.
Dust the apples with the corn starch and granulated sugar.
Add the butter to a pan over medium heat.
Once the butter has stopped foaming, add the apples, and cook for two minutes.
Add the maple syrup and crated cinnamon and cook until slightly thickened.
Allow to cool to room temperature.
Preheat your oven to 375°F.
Working one piece at a time, roll the dough out into even disks.
Add a generous portion of the filling to one side of the dough disk – making sure to leave enough clean edge to fold it over.
Run a water dampened finger along the edges of the dough.
Fold the disk over into a crescent, and pinch the pie shut. For the best seal, you can fold it over slightly and use a fork to press down.
Repeat for the remaining pies.
Whisk the egg well with a couple tablespoons of cold water, and brush over the surface of the pies.
Scatter granulated sugar over the egg wash, then make 3-4 cuts into the top to allow it to vent.
Arrange on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet, and bake until crisp and golden – about 25-30 minutes.