Chowder

A delicious twist on clam chowder, this hearty winter soup is full of tender scallops and smoky bacon.

A make-ahead smoked salmon butter and some fresh cod dress up clam chowder beautifully for company. Team the stew with a favorite coleslaw and warm buttermilk biscuits for a cozy winter meal.

Complement the delicious soup with biscuits and a spinach and red bell pepper salad. Top it all off with some sliced sweetened plums spooned over vanilla ice cream.

When WABC-TV visited gourmet's test kitchens several months ago, the cameraman, Fred Mason of Teaneck, New Jersey, said we had to try his Bermuda fish chowder. He usually makes it for a crowd—you should double the recipe if you want to serve this robust fish stew at a party. Though cooking seafood for a long time may seem unusual, it is traditional for a Bermuda-style chowder, and we think you'll agree with Mason (and with us) that this chowder is first-rate. The special pepper sauce that completes the dish will transport you to the island. In Bermuda, fish chowder is spiked with local rum—usually Gosling's Black Seal. And the finishing touch is Sherry pepper sauce, a Bermudian condiment. Active time: 40 min Start to finish: 2 1/2 hr

Lane Crowther, A contributing editor at Bon Appétit, says that "For twenty-five years our family endured side dishes of canned creamed corn and sweetened baked squash—simply for the sake of tradition. With this soup, I was finally able to convince everyone that a few classic Thanksgiving ingredients (like corn and squash) could be combined in a delicious new way."

If you can't find fresh lobsters, frozen lobster meat can be used.

Whether they feature shellfish, smoked fish or fresh fish, chowders are an essential part of New England cooking. Ours is prepared with a mixture of fresh cod, haddock and halibut, three important North Atlantic ocean varieties. We've made the surprising addition of butternut squash and kale--both popular regional vegetables--to this hearty soup for extra color and texture. Curry powder lends an unexpected bit of spice.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. If you prefer your soup a little thicker, crush 6 saltines into fine crumbs and add them at the end of the procedure, when you add the crab.

When adding the flour, it's important to do so delicately. It must be cooked to remove any raw taste. This thickens the soup nicely.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

This recipe can be prepared in 45 minutes or less. Saltines and a salad of romaine, spinach and red bell peppers tossed with vinaigrette are all that’s needed to complete the entrée. Boston cream pie is just right for dessert.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

I'm not sure if shrimp is so popular because of its versatility or if it's the other way around. In any event, shrimp is one of America's favorite seafoods, so I was a bit surprised not to find a tradition of shrimp chowder anywhere in this country. The lion's share of chowders orignated in New England, but shrimp are only caught here in the winter, up in Maine. "Maine" shrimp (Borealus red shrimp) are small and delicate. They are good in a quick-cooked stew or pureed in a rich bisque, but they become very soft in the extended cooking time involved in making a chowder. In the Southern states, along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast, big white shrimp are abundant, but they are traditionally cooked in gumbos and "muddles" (seafood stews). And I found no trace of an authentic shrimp chowder on the West Coast. So, starting with a clean slate, I was able to create a chowder that expressed what I think a shrimp chowder should be. The is a lovely creamy pink chowder with delicious fennel flavor.

If you are looking for a chowder that is deeply flavored and hearty but not overly rich, this is it. It's perfect for a casual occasion, but the "meatballs" deliver an element of surprise, along the lines of an optical illusion, and make it really quite special. The idea for this chowder came from an old San Francisco recipe for "Force Meatballs" in a cookbook called Joe Tilden's Recipes for Epicures (1907), reprinted in Richard Hooker's Book of Chowders. The "meatballs" were actually made from crabmeat, a fun idea that I knew had great potential. Tilden, a renowned Bay Area amateur cook, left only these instructions for his meatballs: "Serve in any fish chowder or soup." So I paired my version of his meatballs with a chowder that had flavors similar to cioppino, the famous San Francisco seafood stew flavored with garlic, onions, bell peppers, and tomatoes. I served it to my wife and kids, telling them only that it was "meatball chowder." The well-browned meatballs look like the real thing, so they were all a bit dumbfounded when they tasted them. My son, J.P., said "Wow, they taste like crab cakes!" Everybody loved the chowder!

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

The early Yankees often cooked local shellfish in milk-based chowders with potatoes. True to their English heritage, the colonists planted kitchen gardens with as many herbs as they could cultivate, which they put into all kinds of dishes, including chowders.