Cold weather let’s us eat differently - stews, pot roasts and soups can be found on restaurant menus and in home kitchens. Such dishes make me feel hugged, they’re heart warming and remind me of my grandmother’s and mother’s cooking when I was growing up in the alpine region of Austria.
(seafood chowder with cod, octopus, squid, shrimp, leeks, potatoes and Maine cranberries)
Chowder classics and not so classic
I revisit chowder style dishes every year. In New England chowder is a stew made with seafood enriched with milk and/or cream and usually a nice chunk of ham. New York can claim a chowder too - Manhattan chowder which is tomato-based. You may encounter corn chowder on plenty of menus with its whole kernels - usually thick and gooey. To me classic chowder recipes tend to be way too heavy since they are laden with cream. Instead I like to enrich mine with nut milk such as almond or walnut milk so the dish becomes creamy without being cloyingly thick and heavy.
(fancy New England chowder with crispy ham and caviar)
My favorite chowder
Following is a recipe showcasing the bounty of a fall/early winter forest. Terrific mushrooms make a tasty chowder. Depending on your budget a “mélange” of three different mushrooms makes a soup taste balanced -- one mushroom for a nutty flavor profile, one for texture and another for an earthy scent. If you can get your hands on fresh porcini they have all three flavor components in one, though they might break the bank! A good stand-in is the dried porcini, which has to be soaked in water before using.
(mushroom chowder with almond milk)
Mushroom Chowder
(recipe yields four soup portions)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 leeks
4 potatoes such as Russet or fingerling potatoes
2 cups mixed mushrooms such as shitake, white button, Portobello (or my favorite porcini mushrooms)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil such as canola
salt, to taste
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
4 cups nut milk such as almond milk
fresh black pepper grindings, to taste
- Peel onion and garlic then cut (1/4-inch cubes)
- Cut leeks into rings (1/4-inch thick) then let soak in a bowl filled with luke-warm water (move steeping, cut leek with hand in bowl to assist soil particles dropping to bottom of water bowl)
- Remove stems from mushroom caps and discard. Rinse mushroom caps with water then cut (1/4-inch cubes)
- Peel potatoes then cut (1/4-inch cubes)
- In a pot (1-gallon sized) heat vegetable oil on medium heat setting then add cut onions and garlic then cook (10 minutes or so stirring with a cooking spoon once in a while). Season mixture with salt and pepper then add cut mushrooms and cook (10 minutes). Add flour to mixture and stir to incorporate then add nut milk and 2 cups water. Bring mixture to boil then add cut potatoes and continue to simmer for 20 minutes on low heat setting
What is nut milk?
Nut milks are a great fill-in for animal milks with a silky consistency and nutty flavor. You can make your own by toasting nuts such as almonds in a skillet until they have a golden color then process them in a kitchen blender with water for about five minutes. I use a ratio of 4 cups of water to 1 cup nuts. Let the nuts and water steep for two hours then strain trough a fine mesh sieve before using.
Chef’s Tip: Serve chowders with crackers or crusty bread to soak up the very last drop of soup in a bowl.
