Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Food Trip 2

            I think it is safe to say that majority like chowder.  May it be clam chowder, fish chowder or corn chowder; it doesn’t matter especially on a cold winter night.  My personal favorite is clam chowder made with razor clams.  Razor clams have strong taste so if you’re making chowder for two people, you won’t really need a whole lot of razor clams to get that clam taste.  But I’m not suggesting not using a good amount.  If you love them just like I do, go ahead.  However razor clams or any clam for that matter are not always available in our local grocery stores so I had to
sometimes invent using other ingredients.  I tried chicken and turkey before.  They were good but not my favorite.  Just recently I tried chicken sausage and vegetables as my main ingredients.  It’s a balance of meat and vegetable ingredients.  In my opinion this recipe is a good way to introduce unpopular vegetables like Brussels sprout to kids and adults who hate it.  I didn’t include the specific amount of each ingredient because I would like to leave it up to you how much of each you’d like to use in your chowder.  Just remember to try to balance each because you don’t want one ingredient to overpower everything else—garlic for example would do that if you use too much.
            In this recipe, I didn’t use cream for the broth because I try to make it as healthy as possible without compromising the taste and creaminess.  I never thought that would be possible but it is.  Also, feel free to add other vegetables not mentioned here like broccoli.  Broccoli and Brussels sprout will definitely make your chowder a powerhouse of nutrients.  And did I say this is so easy to prepare?  So go ahead try it and enjoy!
Sausage and Vegetable Chowder

Photographed by: Lea Lei http://hennypepper.blogspot.com


Ingredients:
Onion (finely chopped), celery (small cubes), garlic, carrots (small cubes)
Sausage (chicken or turkey)
Water
Potatoes (cut in cubes)
Mushrooms (sliced)
Brussels sprout (sliced thinly)
Peas
Corn (frozen corn kernels are fine)
Milk (should be the same amount as the water)
Flour (dissolved in milk)

Procedure:
1.       Sauté onion, celery and carrots. Add a little bit of salt to soften the ingredients.  Then add garlic.
2.       Add the sliced sausages and sauté until cooked. 
3.       Add water and let boil.
4.       Drop the potatoes.
5.       Add the milk.  This will give the chowder its white color.
6.       When the potatoes are almost done, add the mushrooms, peas, corn, and Brussels spout.
7.       Lower the heat then add the flour dissolved in milk to thicken the broth.
8.       Season with salt and pepper.

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