House Hubbie's Home Cooking

Chicken Corn Chowder

2017-08-29T19:51:00.001-04:00

Perfect Supper for a Cold and Rainy Late Summer Day

Had some left over delicious silver queen corn that I bought from Silverton Farms in Toms River. It is a food that makes late summer at the Jersey Shore such a great place to be.

The rains have been coming down all day and the temperature has been dipping so I decided to put together a simple chicken corn chowder. Turned out pretty great. Here is the recipe.

Chicken Corn Chowder

4 or 5 ears of corn

4 thick strips of bacon

1 large onion

1 T butter

4 cups of water

4 cups of chicken stock

4 - 6 medium potatoes, cubed

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or 2-4 cups left over chicken

cayenne pepper

1 block of cream cheese

salt

pepper

Cook the corn until done 4-8 minutes. Run under cold water until you can handle the ear. Cut the corn off the ears and scrape down ears. Put the corn kernels and stripped ears aside.

Render the bacon. Put aside 2 tablespoons of bacon fat. Cut up the cooked bacon and put aside.

Dice onion. Saute in 2 T of bacon fat and 1 T of butter in a soup pot.

Pour 4 cups of water and four cups of chicken stock into the onions.

Put stripped corn cobs into the pot and boil gently for about 1 half hour.

Add the potatoes and cook until just soft to a fork. Take out about a cup of potatoes and mash with a fork. Add back into the pot and continue to cook gently. Add chicken, corn kernels and bacon, a pinch or so of cayenne. Cook for about a half hour.

Add the block of cream cheese and mix it into the soup until it is completely incorporated.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Very tasty. Even better the second day.

Super Easy Hearty Gluten Free Chicken Soup

2015-01-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

I sometimes cook for the church where I am one of the pastors. Some of our members are on gluten and dairy restricted diet and I wanted to make a simple supper for a crowd that would be enjoyed by most and not a problem for anyone to eat. I also am pretty busy with my various responsibilities as a pastor, as a chaplain, with my family and in my community involvements. This morning I went to the store to figure out a quick, hearty soup to make for a meeting tonight. I don't usually use frozen vegetables, but since I was in such a hurry, they were great in a pinch. Here is the result. I think it came out pretty good. It has a bit of a southwestern taste. If you wanted to thicken it up you could blend a couple of ladles with a corn tortilla until smooth, pour it back in and bring it to simmer for a bit, but I like it just the way it is.

Super Easy Hearty Gluten Free Chicken Soup

2 T olive olive
4 chicken thighs with skin on
4 chicken breasts with skin on
2 cloves of garlic minced
4 stalks of celery, chopped
1 bag of frozen chopped onions
4 boxes of low sodium, gluten free chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 medium red peppers, chopped
1 bag of frozen corn
1 bag of frozen Lima beans
1 bag of frozen hash browns (cubes, not shredded)
1 t. cumin
a pinch or two of cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to tase

Brown the chicken very well in the olive oil in a large soup pot. Remove chicken and set aside. There should be a good fond in the pan. Sweat celery and garlic in the fat remaining and when somewhat cooked add the frozen onions, salt, pepper and cook together until veggies are soft. Add the chicken stock , the bay leaves and put chicken back in the pot. Simmer for about and hour. Remove chicken, set aside and let it get cool enough to handle. Remove any skin or other bits remaining in the pot. Add the peppers, the frozen corn, the Lima beans, the hash browns, the cumin and cayenne pepper. Cook until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes or so. Take the chicken meat off the bone and add it back into the pot. Adjust salt and pepper as needed.

Enjoy!

Reblog: One-Pan Farro with Tomatoes

2013-07-16T09:17:00.002-04:00

Here is a great summer recipe I found today from the Smitten Kitchen blog. I want to make it soon.

One Pan Farro with Tomatoes

Delicious Blueberry Pancakes with Blueberry Syrup

2012-06-23T10:41:00.002-04:00

This morning I woke up to a beautiful Saturday morning at the shore and I thought about heading over to Bennie's Diner. But then I saw the flat of fresh Jersey Blueberries on the counter and I thought . . . Blueberry Pancakes. I love to go back to my short order days and cook up a batch of pancakes or homefries and eggs or whatever. I have a great cast iron well seasoned griddle that covers two burners so I feel like I am back to at my old station at the Sign of the Fish Restaurant in Ocean Grove, where I got my culinary start. Here's a great recipe for Blueberry Pancakes. They were very tasty, especially with the blueberry syrup as a topping.

Blueberry Pancakes

2 cups buttermilk or 1 Tbs juice from 1 lemon mixed with 2 cups milk

2 cups (10 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tbs sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 large egg

3 Tbs butter, melted

1 to 2 tsp vegetable oil

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, rinsed and dried

Combine all dry ingredients with a fork. Mix butter into milk and wisk egg into milk. Combine milk mixture with dry ingredients until everything is wet but batter is still lumpy. Fold in blueberries.

Grease griddle with a bit of oil on a paper towel. When a couple of drops of water "dance" on the griddle it is ready. Drop about 1/3 of a cup of batter on griddle. When the edges begin to dry and there are hollow bubbles on the surface of the pancake, turn it over and cook until top of pancake begins to get soft. Put finished pancake in a covered dish until you've finished cooking all the batter. This should make 16 pancakes.

Serve pancakes with butter, maple syrup, or blueberry syrup.

Blueberry Syrup

1 1/2 cup blueberries

1 cup light pancake syrup

Boil blueberries in syrup until they begin to explode. Pour over blueberry or regular pancakes.

Enjoy!

Empinadas In Timesquare

2012-06-14T01:56:00.002-04:00

Had a pretty awesome snack from Nuchas Gourmet Empinadas food truck. The short rib empinadas are the bomb. We stopped by while waiting for traffic in the parking garage to clear after seeing Anything Goes, which was a pretty good show. Best tap dancing (actually the only tap dancing) I have ever seen.

A Trip to the Belmar Seafood Festival

2012-06-12T12:23:00.001-04:00

The gang and I spent this past Sunday afternoon at the 26th Annual Belmar Seafood Festival. It was a great time dampened only a little bit by the heat and the huge crowds. One of the perks of living at the Shore is to be able to jump in the car and drive to a festival like in just few minutes. There is music, craft and other non-food fenders, and a giant wine and beer tent, but of course the real draw is seafood.

Some of my favorite Belmar area seafood restaurants were there including Mr. Shrimp (my current favorite) and Ollie Klein's (the fish I grew up on when the owner was the chef at Evelyn's which has sadly departed from the Belmar restaurant scene.) There were some higher end representatives including Mumfords, 40 North Oyster Company and Anthony's of Little Italy. However at an event like this, the key is to eat seafood you love in as close to it's natural state as possible. The highlight of my eating adventures was a platter of 4 cherrystone clams and 4 nice plum oysters. What made it taste even better is that this delectable plate of raw mollusks cost me only 5 bucks. It was pretty impressed with the shuckers. The guy who was preparing my plate told me that he shucks about 2000 briny packets a day.

Nick joined me in his own feast of raw mollusks. Bria chose a platter of seared tuna, coconut shrimp with a side of rice and arugla. Becca had a crab cake sandwich and a buffalo shrimp taco. Christine enjoyed a New Jersey speciality, deep fried crunchy soft shell crab on a sandwich with lettuce and tarter sauce.

There were some great choices for deserts if you were interested. Nick opted for a deep fried oreo which was shared among the group. Becca had a crape folded over a ricotta and chocolate chip filling. For me, being the frugal guy that I am, I was thrilled that 7 Eleven had a truck there giving out free, pretty generous samples of slushy.

If you plan to attend the Belmar Seafood Festival next year, I would give you two hints. Try to go on Friday night. The attendance is a little lighter and according to one of the worker, this years festival had the largest attendance in it's history, so on the last day, crowds were definitely bordering on intolerable. The second hint is to park in at the Marina or train station and use the free shuttles provided by the festival. I am looking forward to enjoying some of the other great foodie and fun festivals this summer. It's great to live at the Jersey Shore. Enjoy!

Eat Sustainable Seafood

2012-06-08T09:50:00.003-04:00

This past fall, I had one of the best fishing trips of my life. Frank, Matt and I boarded the Gambler in Point Pleasant, NJ in quest of the mighty striped bass. This is game fish that had been overfished in Jersey waters to the point of extinction a few years ago. Thankfully, agressive fish management has brought back the stocks in Jersey to level that enabled our party to limit out with lunker bass that looked like this:

Proudly display our catch, including Frank's pool winner

All conscientious foodies should be concerned about the problem of overfishing. Only sustainable fish should be eaten. Here's why:

Ending Overfishing from OCEAN2012 on Vimeo.

Also, only herbivore farm raised fish should be eaten. If a fish is carnivore, only wild fish should be eaten. That is why wild salmon is should be chosen over farm raised salmon.

Eating Fish from Nigel Upchurch on Vimeo.

Here is a handy dandy guide to help you make ethical choices when it come to eating seafood: Seafood Watch.

Happy fishing! Enjoy!

St. Patty's Leftover Treat -- Bubble and Squeak

2012-03-19T12:24:00.001-04:00

I am cooking up a batch of Bubble and Squeak for lunch with the sweetheart. Bubble and Squeak uses the leftover veggies from your St. Patty's Day feast. (Our's was a doozy this year). It is simple and fun. It gets it's name from the noises the pan makes as the treat cooks in it's black cast iron pan. Here is how you make it:

Take a good amount of butter (I used 3 T) and melt it in a cast iron pan. (Has to be a cast iron pan). Dice some onions and cook it in the pan. Mash up your left over potatoes, carrots, turnips. Whatever you had in the pot with your corned beef or smoked pork butt. Slice up your left over cabbage and mix it with the veggies mash. Put it into the pan, mash it down and cook for 10 or 15 minutes until it is nice an brown on one side. Flip it out on a cutting board, slide it back in the pan and brown the other side. Eat it with butter, malt or cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Enjoy!

The Essential Christmas Album Collection

2011-12-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

The Meaning of Christmas

This is one of the great Christmas albums of all time. It starts out with the medley "Sing We Now of Christmas" and some of the older re-issues of this album go by that name, but the star of the show is the original version of "The Little Drummer Boy". You probably listened to tunes spun from the vinyl of this LP when you were opening presents under the Christmas Tree when you were a little kid. This album is a re-issue of the original 1959 classic.

This album featuring choral singing backed by orchestra is another must have for the Christmas season. I love the use of some lesser known Christmas songs. It is another old standard and features a great collection of sacred Christmas music that you will spin again and again.

John Rutter is an English composer and conducter of sacred music. He has several Christmas albums and this is his best. It includes most of Rutter's original Christmas compositions and some fresh arrangements of Christmas standards. What makes Rutter great is his ability to bring a contemporary twist yet still have that touch of either mystery or festivity that is the essence of Christmas.

Handel's Messiah is a composition which I have to listen to at least once during the Christmas season, even though only one third of the oratory has to do with the prophecies and events of the Messiah's birth. There are lots of bad Messiah recordings, this is not one of them. The version done by the Academy of St. Martin in the Field is a great recording and one of my favorites.

The late, great Luciano Pavaratti is my favorite tenor. This album is a re-issue from the late 70's. "Uncle Luke's" voice is at it's peak of perfection. This is a wonderful collection of timeless, beautiful songs that capture the meaning of Christmas.

The Spirit of Christmas

Bing Croby, Burl Ives, they are all here. This and the companion CD linked below bring together just about all the Christmas classics that are part of the Great American Songbook. If you are looking for a comprehensive collection of the songs of your childhood Christmas memories, you have found it here. The Time-Life Treasury of Christmas: Christmas Memories

The animated TV perennial. This soundtrack is from was the very first Peanuts inspired seasonal special and is the wonderful. There is something about Charlie Brown's sad Christmas tree and Snoopy's antics along with Linus' reading of the Christmas story that capture the spirit of the season for me. As a bonus Vince Guarali's jazz interpretation of the Peanut's charachters is spot on.

OK, now for a few albums that are newer, but have an earned a place on my must play at Christmas time playlist. My kids introduces my to the music of Sufjan Stevens. He is a multi-instrumentalist minimalist singer song-writer. This 42 track CD is a compilation of Sufjan reinterpretations of Chrismas classics plus new music he sent out starting in 2001 to his friends as a kind of a musical Christmas card.

Maggie, Terry and Suzie Roche are three sisters out of the New York folk season. They used to do an annual Christmas concert at Manhattan's Town Hall. Their tight harmonies and sweet and sassy style are a joy to listen to. I always thought they were one of New York music's best kept secrets. I have enjoyed introducing them and especially their Christmas album to a a lot of different folk over the years.

Why is this one here you might ask? Christmas Wrapping by the Waitresses, I Believe in Father Christmas by Gregg Lake, Step Into Christmas by Elton John and Father Christmas by the Kinks, all in place. Lots of Christmas memories from my late 70's early 80's college days. Almost an anthology of Classic Rock Christmas music. If "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "Merry Xmas (The War is Over) were here this would be golden.

Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!

Gourmet Boardwalk Food at the Jersey Shore

2011-08-11T07:01:00.008-04:00

It may be the new found notoriety of Seaside, but I noticed on a recent trip to the boardwalk that the quality of some of the food stands has moved noticeably higher. Of course the great old favorites are still there such as Maruca's Tomatoe Pies, and Midway Steakhouse, but some pretty interesting eateries have sprung up to compliment the cra

zy boardwalk mix since my last visit.

The first place I visited was Buffie's Baby Burger. The name implies that these burgers are going to be tiny little things. They are small, (about 4 bites or so), but each yummy mouthful will leave you wanting more. The burgers are juicy. They are served on a soft potato roll, topped with sauteed onions and some crunchy bread and butter pickles. Definitely not your usual burger.

Next to Buffie's is a stand serving a treat I thought I would have to drive to New York to try after learning about this street food from

a Bobby Flay Throwdown episode. These are the authentic Liege Wafles (the other Belgium Waffles) served at the Wafles and

Dinges shop. These wafles are different from the Belgium waffles you will find at some of the ice cream stands at the boardwalk. They are made from a yeast batter sweetened with pearl sugar that bursts in your mouth when eaten. Rather than being poured

the waffles are hand pressed into the waffle iron. My wife had hers with the Nutella.

The final new comer to the boardwalk is Bubba's Dog house. What caught my eye for this stand was the advertising of Newark Style hot dogs. My favorite iteration of this kind of dog comes from Jimmy Buff's, so I was interested to see how Bubba's version stacked up. The dog I had was fried as it should be then stuffed into a quality roll with fried potatoes, peppers and onions. Quite a good version of a dog I used to have to travel up north to enjoy.

So there are still a few weeks left to summer and then the best month at the shore, in my opinion, September is still in front of us. Head over to the boardwalk to try some of these gourmet boardwalk treats.

Jule's Italian Restaurant: Epic Hospitality and Customer Service

2011-07-30T02:12:00.013-04:00

A Wedding Story

Tonight I had one of the most wonderful experiences of hospitality and customer service I have ever had, perhaps in my life. It all started when we began the drive from Point Pleasant, where we had just finished the rehearsal for my daughter's wedding. We were headed to the place in Brick that we had recommended for the out of town groom's parents to arrange the rehearsal dinner. As we were driving, the sky opened up, pelting the area with driving rain and giant hale stones. The already terrible Brick traffic was snarled as the roads flooded. Tornado like winds ripped through Brick and the whole town, as far as we knew, was in darkness, including the traffic lights that under normal circumstances kept the cars crawling through town.

As we were battling this weather to get to the rehearsal dinner spot, the cell phone rings. My daughter is on the phone speaking to her mother who is next to me. I only hear the mother of bride's side of the conversation, but I pick up real quickly that disaster has struck the evening's plans. The place we were headed to was in darkness with the rest of the town. Forty guests are at the spot and have just been told that the event cant' happen because there is no power and they have no idea when the lights will come back on. The bride to be has just informed her mother that we have to come up with plan B and do so quickly. My reflex reaction is "call Jule's". Even though we have only eaten there a few times in the past year, some how I knew from the great service we experienced that Barbara, the owner of Jule's, might be able to pull off a save.

And she chalked up so much more than just a save. In less than a half hour, Barbara had called in extra staff, gotten their private party room ready, and were in the kitchen cooking up a beautiful buffet of their famous antipasto salad, penne vodka, chicken marsala, meatballs and sausage with peppers. The quality and care of each dish were remarkable. What a wonderful restaurant and what a fantastic business person. If I were in the position to hand out rewards, I would give Jule's Italian Restaurant of Toms River, and Barbara a medal for Epic Hospitality and Customer Service. I shall be spending a lot more time at Jule's this coming year.

A Great Summer Recipe

2011-07-26T08:05:00.003-04:00

If you are a gardener, you are as excited as I am that tomatoes are ripening on the vine and the first of the season are being harvested right now. Here is a great recipe that came across my desk this morning using tomatoes and new potoatoes.--two of the great foods of summer. Looks great, I can't wait to try it. And if you aren't checking out the blog Simply Recipes, give it a read.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/provencal_new_potatoes/

The Joys of Living at the Jersey Shore

2011-07-23T18:18:00.001-04:00

I'm Back

2011-07-23T17:01:00.003-04:00

Hey All,

It's summer at the Jersey Shore, my daughter is getting married next week, my youngest child is heading to Ohio for college, and I have finally gone part time at the Hospice. So . . . it's time to start blogging again. Just to whet your appetites . . . I found this interesting recipe for Crock Pot Enchiladas and made them last night. It was very good. My future son-in-law declared them uber healthy. I added shredded chicken left over from the $4.00 roasted chicken from Costco. I would probably use corn tortillas next time, and crumbled a bit of feta cheese on top toward the end of cooking. Enjoy!

Meatless Monday

2009-09-01T09:25:00.004-04:00

As most of you who have been reading this blog for any time know, I am a meat and potatoes guy. The result of 51 years of meat and potatoes is that I cut a pretty robust and burly figure. Christine and I were talking on the way back from Pittsburgh about our menu planning for the fall. We came up with the following schedule:

Sunday--"Mary's Gravy"

Monday--Meatless Monday

Tuesday--Blue Plate Special (roast, meatloaf or another family favorite)

Wednesday--Pizza (from whatever pizzeria has a twofer special)

Thursday--Soup

Friday-Fish

Saturday--Casserole, crock pot, sandwiches or breakfast for supper

What I really need help with, being the meat and potatoes guy that I am is what to have for "Meatless Monday". Any ideas? Post them below.

Two Cool Eateries in Keen, NH

2009-07-20T11:21:00.004-04:00

Our family has been taking an annual treck for at least one week to Camp Spofford in south western New Hampshire. The camp is on Spofford Lake, just about halfway between Keene, NH and Brattleboro, VT. Our kids love it so much that two of them are working up there this summer. When we take our week, going out to eat at some of the funky restaurants in Keene or Brattleboro is always on the schedule. This week we visited to standouts that you definitely check out if you are visiting that region for vacation or on a fall foliage tour.

We ate at a place called The Keene Fresh Salad Company. This eat in deli is known for their different varieties of fresh pesto that are used to garnish their sandwiches. We enjoyed a turkey, fresh mozzarella with pesto on a freshly baked foccocia. It was pretty tasty.

The place that really stood out though was Fritz's. This restaurants specializes in Belgian fries that are served with all kinds of interesting dipping sauces. I had the Havarti Dill Cheeseburger and my wife had the Caprese Panini, which was made from fresh basil, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. We ordered a few different dipping sauces with our fries, including a peanut satay, Parmesan peppercorn, spicy chipolata ketchup. I have to say however, that these fries were so awesome I mostly ate them with salt and a dash of malt vinegar.

When in the Keen, NH area. Check out these two restaurants. You'll be glad you did.

What 18 Day of Rain Does for the Garden

2009-06-30T10:06:00.005-04:00

It has been a very wet spring and early summer here in Jersey. Last I heard we have had 18 days of rain straight here in Ocean County. The sad part of that news is that I haven't been to the beach much. This past Sunday was a beautiful beach day though and Christine and I headed up there after church. The weather was beautiful, but the water was not great. There was a green algae bloom, the result of all the run off from the overflowing bay. That is kind of unusual for the Jersey Shore, because contrary to popular belief, excellent coastal water quality is one of the high priorities for our state. However, the result of all the rain was healthy vegetation in waters and the same has been true of the my garden.

We put lots of sweat equity into the garden this year and lots of compost, and it already starting to pay off. Here are a couple of photos of early garden results.

Fresh Sugar Snap Peas in abundance. We had them along side a nice chili that Christine cooked up along with a fresh arugula and leaf lettuce salad fresh picked from the garden.

Raspberries and blackberries galore.

The flowers love the rain. One of my hybrid day lilies.

Well, my chore for the day is to do the July bills. After that I have some church reading to do. It looks like another fine beach day, so I am headed out before supper, then I plan to grill a nice London broil for a supper on the deck.

Breakfast at Shut Up and Eat

2009-06-12T07:33:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, Christine and I had a lovely breakfast at an interesting little joint called "Shut Up and Eat". Like the majority of restaurants in Northern Ocean County, "Shut Up and Eat" is located in a strip mall. Their strip mall is the K-Mart Plaza on route 37 in Toms River. The restaurant is a quirky little place. The theme is Mom's cluttered kitchen table--a decorating style that might be called "tacky chic" There is a diner counter that folk eat at, as well an eclectically furnished dining room. Nearly every inch of the wall are with pictures, photos, plaques, etc. The tables are set with mismatched thrift store mugs, dishes and salt and pepper shakers. The servers dress in pajamas and there is a standing special that gives you a 13% discount on your meal if you show up pajamas.

We had a nice breakfast that we constructed out of the breakfast specials that were posted on the door. I had two eggs over easy, hash browns, rye toast and coffee with a side of corn beef hash. The coffee was fresh, hot and full of flavor. The eggs were cooked just the way I like them. The hash browns were crunchy with a bit of a peppery kick. The star for me of my meal was the corn beef hash. It was homemade, with big chunks of corn beef, green peppers, potatoes and onions. Yum. Christien had the silver dollar with a side of bacon special. The bacon was nothing special, but the silver dollar pancakes were light and tender. What really impressed me about her meal was the the pancakes were served with a bottle of real maple syrup. Now that is something to write home about. What was especially exciting about breakfast at "Shut Up and Eat" was the bill. We got out of there for under $10. I really don't know when the last time was that I had such a nice breakfast for such a small amount of money.

"Shut Up and Eat" is trying to get themselves on Diners, Dives and Drive-ins and they are asking everyone to send an email to Guy Fieri about the place. If you live in the area or are on Rt 37 on your way to the beach, be sure to stop for breakfast at "Shut Up and Eat."

Shut Up And Eat - K-Mart Shopping Center, 213 Route 37 East, Toms River. 732.349.4544.

Enjoy!

Bria's Sweet Sixteen Cupcake Tower

2009-06-10T09:29:00.006-04:00

My family celebrated my youngest daughter's sweet sixteen. I am feeling old. Bria wanted a special cake for the occasion and we brainstormed all kinds of ideas and finally decided to make cupcake tower. It came out pretty great. Her sister and her boyfriend spent a couple days before the event making cupcakes. They made carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing, devil's food cupcake with Mary Steven' famous white icing, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with fudgey chocalte icing, and my favorite, german chocolate cupcakes with pecan coconut icing.

Instead of buying the cupcake stand from the craft store, we build our own. It was pretty easy. In this picture you get a better idea of the structure.

We took 3 different size Wilton cardboard cake trays and the top was a plastic wilton cake tray, created styrofoam columns by gluing together styrofoam discs and covering them with ribbon. Then we glued them to the bottom of the top three trays. We glued a large styrofoam disc to the bottom tray and glued a dowel to the center of that disc. Finally we connected the tower together by pushing the dowel through the center of all three top trays. It really worked out well and was quite inexpensive. The great thing is that is breaks down for easy storage. The top of the tower was supposed to be topped by a fondant covered topsy truvy cake, but the heat that day caused us to have an "Ace of Cakes" moment so we had to improvise.

Enjoy!

My Original and Delicious Manhattan Clam Chowder Recipe

2009-05-01T09:30:00.008-04:00

I grew up eating hot and steamy bowls of clam chowder when I was a kid spending my summers at the Jersey Shore. My very first summer job was working at the Sign of the Fish Restaurant on the southend boardwalk in Ocean Grove, NJ. Dave Shotwell and his lovely wife ran it for a couple of summers when he was taking his summer break from directing the marching band at Neptune High School. My official title my first year there was dishwasher, but Mr Shotwell would often use me to do the peeling and chopping for the soups that were a staple of the menu. This is where I learned to love the kitchen and cooking. Mr. Shotwell cooked up a very awesome clam chowder that would sell out in one day. My clam chowder recipe tries to recall the flavors from the Delicious steamy bowl I used to help make back in the day. Of course it's base is a tomato infused clam broth, enriched with bell peppers, potatoes and flavored with a good dose of black pepper and thyme. It is so simple to use fresh clams and so economical, at least in our area, that I can't imagine why anyone would use the canned stuff. Give my recipe a try and let me know what you think.

House Hubbie's Own Manhattan Clam Chowder

12 chowder clams (the size above cherrystones also called quahogs)
1 cup of water

Wash off clams, make sure they all alive, steam in a closed pot until clams are open. Remove clams from pot, when cool remove clam meat from shells, chop and set aside. Strain cooking liquid through paper towel or coffee filter in order to remove sand. Set aside.

4 strips of bacon, diced
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
4 carrots
2 bell peppers
Salt

Cook bacon in bottom of pot until rendered. Drain off fat and return bacon and 2 T of bacon drippings to pot. Chop vegetables into about a 1/2 inch dice. Season with salt. Sweat veggies in bacon drippings over medium heat until onions are clear.

Clam steaming liquid plus enough bottled clam juice to make six cups.
2 12 oz cans of diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 t. thyme
freshly ground pepper to taste
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced.
chopped clams
salt, pepper
fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
oyster crackers

Add the clam broth and clam juice to the vegetables. Add the tomatoes, by leaves, thyme and pepper. Simmer for about an hour or so. Add the potatoes and cook until they are soft but not mushy and soup has begun to thicken (20 or 30 minutes). Add clams. Cook for another 10 minutes or so. Taste and correct for seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve chowder in bowls garnished with parsley with oyster crackers on the side.

Enjoy!

Just What I Neeed on a Cold Winter Morning: Real Hot Cocoa

2009-01-30T09:34:00.002-05:00

I made myself a cup of real hot cocoa this morning. Not the powdered stuff or the stuff made from chocolate syrup. It's simple.

Real Hot Cocoa

1 mug full of milk
3 rounded teaspoons of cocoa
3 rounded teaspoons of sugar
dash of salt

Heat the milk in a pan or in the microwave. In the bottom of the mug, mix together cocoa, sugar and salt. Pour a tiny bit of milk into the mug. Mix to form a paste. Pour in the rest of the hot milk. Beat with a spoon until blended and frothy.

Enjoy

Ahh! Puerto Rico

2009-01-16T11:33:00.007-05:00

The Norwegian side of my wife's family and their spouses descended on San Juan, Puerto Rico for the wedding. One of her cousins was marrying a fellow a from Puerto Rico that she met while in medical school. The gathering took place over the New Year's holiday. It was a wonderful time. The image of staid Nordic types trying to learn to Salsa and getting into the Latino vibe caused more than one of us to comment on what a great "News From Lake Wobegon" segment it would make on "A Prairie Home Companion."

The picture above is the view from our hotel room at the Marriott Hotel on the beach in the Condado section of San Juan. This is a beautiful hotel right on beach. Great service, wonderful beds and amenities, a fantastic pool, perfect weather. It doesn't get much better than this.

The first evening the entire clan (more than 50 of us) gathered at Restaurant Barrachina in Old San Juan. This restaurant advertises that it is the birthplace of the "original pina colada", which it is not. I would advise that you stay away from this restaurant as it is a tourist trap.

Old San Juan is really beautiful. It is free and a must visit. Four cruise ships were in port the night of our visit to Barrachina, so the streets were crowded. We headed back the next day without the crowds and I spent some time getting some beautiful pictures of the streets, the vistas and the fort. Earlier that day, I was in the mood for some local Puerto Rican food. I asked a cab driver where he ate and he directed me to the pool grill in the Dutch Inn. This rundown hotel across the street from the Marriot is where the Greenhouse Restaurant is located, which gets a descent amount of the tourist trade. The grill in the pool area is great and local, local, local. Two women who speak no English give you menu with the food for the day. The menu has English translations. I had the roasted pork with rice and pink beans. My wife had the chicken in garlic sauce with rice and black beans. The senoritas ladled the food from large iron pots on the stove. The portions were generous and the the food was very tasty. Puerto Rican food is savory but not necessarily hot. I very much enjoyed it.

The last day were in Puerto Rico, we rented a car and traveled through the El Yungue Rain Forest. This about an hour drive from San Juan. We saw a little place called the Isamar Bakery on Route 26 right across the street from the turn off for the rain forest. We had a great inexpensive, home cooked meal there.

We met the owner, Cookie, who is from New York City. She returned to Puerto Rico and opened this bakery and has been doing very well. Cookie is a devout Christan lady and told us God told her to come back to Puerto Rico to help with the Baptist church that is just down the street from her bakery. Everything at the bakery is homemade and as you can see from the menu, very inexpensive.

Unfortunately the roast pork was sold out, so we had a Choripan and a Bistec Sandwich. Both were served on good homemade Puerto Rican bread. The Choripan was especially tasty. It is eggs scrambled and served with fried chorizo.

Since were were eating at a bakery we had to sample some of the tasty pastry. My wife had a a piece of flan. The folk we were with had guava cheesecake. I had a guava filled cheese danish. Yum.
Now that I am back in Jersey experiencing snow and nearly zero temperatures, remembering my few days in Puerto Rico are making warm all over. I can't wait to go back.

Enjoy!

Christmas Morning Brunch

2008-12-25T12:24:00.004-05:00

Well, Christmas morning has come and gone. We are all hanging lounging around until we have to head up to Boonton for our gathering of Nordic hordes at my sister-in-laws house. We had the usually exchange of presents this morning. Rob is playing his new Wii music game and I am blogging on a new lap desk that Matt bought me. After exchanging presents Grandma and Grandpa Meyer along with Natalie and here Dad came over for Christmas brunch.

Here is the Menu for our Christmas Brunch:

Overnight Pecan Sticky Buns
Fruit Salad
Hash Browned Potatoes
Bacon
Baked Egg Cups

I used a recipe from Good Housekeeping for the Overnight Pecan Sticky Buns. I did the whole recipe in my Kitchen Aid mixer instead of hand kneading as the recipe suggests. It was the first time I had used this recipe and it was a winner.

Here is the recipe for the baked egg cups:

1 dozen slices of good quality white bread
1 stick of butter
1 dozen eggs
salt pepper

Cut the crusts off the bread and flatten each slice with a rolling pin. Butter both sides the bread. Gather together the four corners and place in a muffin tin. Bake at 375 degrees until toasty. Fill each toast cup with an egg, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 degrees until egg is set, about 13 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

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Oly Kucken Day at G Ma's

2008-12-23T11:02:00.003-05:00

Our holiday season keeps rolling on, along with all the great traditions our family has kept over the years. In honor of the Dutch heritage of my side of the family, Becca and Bria get together with my mother (who the girl's call G Ma), for their annual Oly Kucken day. Oly Kucken are deeped fried dough cakes with raisins, coated with powdered sugar. I believe that they actually are made for the season leading up to Lent in Dutch and German homes, but for some reason they have become associated with Christmas in our household. They are a special treat we look forward to this time of year.

The recipe is transcriped here exactly as it was written down by my mother, who wrote it down from her grandmother , Annie Dorn Stohl, who we knew as Mammie.

Oly Kucken

2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. raisns, soaked while preparing.

Mix 1 egg with 1/2 c. milk - 3/4 c. sugar $ 2 tsp vanilla - add dry ingredients - fry @ 350 degrees until brown.

(Editor's note: I suggest that you fry in shortening. Vegetable oils can leave a taste behind and the Oly Kucken are more oily.)

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Holland Butter Cookies

2008-12-18T07:49:00.009-05:00

My favorite of our family's holiday traditions is Christmas Baking. We make all kinds of delicious, sweet, spicy, and nutty carbohydrate concoctions. These items come from the recipe box of Christine's and my ethnic backgrounds. Christine's Norwegian heritage has the most food based holiday traditions of the two of us, but my Dutch and Irish heritage contribute a bit to the mix. Tonight the girls are heading up to North Jersey to gather with the aunts and female cousins of my wife's clan to make all sorts of Norwegian cookies. I will share some of the recipes and pictures of the tasty treats over the next few days. Last night however, the girls launched the baking extravaganza by making a cookie tin full of Holland Butter Cookies.

I have no idea where this recipe came from. It is has been in my family a long time. The cookies are very simple. The main flavoring comes from brown sugar and almond extract. It is essential that you stick to the proportions of butter and margarine. I am not a margarine fan, but the proportions in this recipe yield a thin and crispy cookie. Even though the recipe seems so simple, please give it a try. Once you do they just might become one your favorite cookies.

Holland Butter Cookies

1 stick butter
2 sticks margarine
1 t vanilla
1 t almond extract3 & 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 & 1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. baking powder
2/3 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. white sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cream butter, sugar & extracts together. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Press through a cookie press or roll cookies into small balls and press flat with the tines of a fork or a cookie stamp. Bak 20-30 minutes.

As the original recipe notes--always double or triple the recipe!

Enjoy!

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