Manhattan Clam Chowder

Reference

One of these days I'll remember to
get a picture before I finish my meal
 and put the leftovers in a Tupperware

I found this recipe at allrecipies.com. I actually did my best to follow the recipe to the letter, which is unusual for me.

Reagents

5 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams (reference called for 4, but I decided to get 1 extra - see notes below)
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes (I noticed when I got home that my can came with oregano)
2 (29 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 lb baby carrots, chopped
3 stalk celery, diced (recipe called for 1, added more)
8 potatoes, cubed (I actually made a mistake, and added probably closer to 10 or 11)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2  tablespoon dried oregano (recipe called for 1, but since crushed tomatoes already had oregano, added less)
1 tablespoon dried basil
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce (recipe called for 2)
3 drops hot pepper sauce
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste


Procedure
1) Combine tomatoes and clams, with juices. Bring to boil, add spices, hot sauce, and Worchestershire. Simmer ~20 min
2)Add veggies, simmer for 2 hours.

Results and Discussion
Overall: pretty good. Definitely a soup I'm going to make again.

Not enough clams - next time I'm going to double the number of canned clams. This might also solve the fact that it was very tomato-y.

I definitely added too many potatoes; I think that 8 is probably perfect. Also, I needed to chop the potatoes smaller.

I'm not a big fan of bell peppers, so I think I would scale those back and add more celery.

Vegetable Soup

Reference
I got this recipe from Food Network, and then modified it a little bit.

Ingredients

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 chopped leeks, white part only
2 tablespoons minced garlic
~2 teaspoon Kosher salt
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped into rounds
2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
2 cups fresh green beans, broken or cut into 3/4-inch pieces
2 quarts chicken
1 can tomato paste
2 cans sweet corn, drained

Procedure

Heat the olive oil in large, heavy-bottomed stockpot over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the leeks, garlic, and a pinch of salt and sweat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Add the carrots, potatoes, and green beans and continue to cook for 4 to 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the stock, increase the heat to high, and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, add the tomato paste, corn kernels, and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the vegetables are fork tender, approximately 25 to 30 minutes.


Results and Discussion
I think that replacing the tomatoes with the tomato paste was a mistake. I'm not a fan of tomatoes, and so I decided to get rid of them, but wanted to keep something similar. Next time, I'll try to find something else, or at least use less than 1 can.

While waiting for it to simmer, I smelled the soup, and it seemed kind of boring. I looked through my spice cabinet, and I found Chinese Five-Spice. I added about 1/2 teaspoon, and that saved the soup. It was delicious! Definitely going to include the Five-Spice in my next iteration.

Grandma's Beef Casserole

It actually tasted AND looked better than it does in this picture.

Abstract

This is a casserole that my grandma used to make (hence the title).

Recipe

1 lb. noodles (bowtie, in this case)

2 cups cottage cheese

2 cups sour cream

2 lbs. ground beef

32 ounces tomato sauce

½ onion, chopped

Dash of pepper

Dash of garlic salt

Shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese (2-ish cups)

Procedure

Cook noodles and drain

Brown ground beef

Combine noodles, cottage cheese, and sour cream in one bowl

Combine beef, tomato sauce, onion, garlic salt, and pepper

In a greased 9x13 pan, alternate noodle mixture (start with this layer),with meat mixture (end on this layer)

Top with cheddar cheese

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 min (cheese will be bubbly).

Results and Discussion

Waay too much sour cream.

Ground beef chunks were too big -  break it up more.

I think that adding a little cheese (1/2 cup?) to the beef mixture wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Clam Chowder (that tasted a lot like bacon chowder)

Abstract:

My roommate Luke and I decided to make clam chowder tonight. The product was edible, but with no noticeable clam taste.

Recipe:

4 cups clam juice (recipe called for 5, but they were $2/bottle, and we were feeling cheap)

1 cup flour

1 cup onion finely diced

10 slices bacon (this is what the recipe called for. We were using ends and pieces, and had to estimate, and I think we estimated high)

2 6-ounce cans clams undrained

1 cup dehydrated hash browns, reconstituted according to package directions

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup cream

1 tsp salt

Procedure

Fry bacon in wok. Remove; do not drain bacon grease

Fry onions in bacon grease.

Add flour

Chop bacon, return to wok. Stir for 5 minutes.

Add clam juice and stir out lumps

Add remainder of ingredients, simmer for 20 minutes

Results and Discussion

Product was edible, but tasted more like bacon chowder than anything else. It was also way to thick. In future, use 4 potatoes, chopped and cooked, instead of hash browns. Consider adding more milk. Original recipe called for 2 tbsp butter instead of bacon grease. This would cut back on the bacon taste, and allow the clams to come out.

Pineapple Chili for Ward Cookoff (3 Dec 2011)

(Note: Procedure and ingredients recreated from memory 2 days later)

Ingredients:

5 cans crushed tomatoes

3 cans petite diced tomatoes

2 cans dole pineapple (drained)

~5.75lb beef roast

1/2 cup chili powder

1/3 cup cumin

4 Tbsp. cayenne pepper

1 can evaporated milk

2 yellow onions, coarsely chopped

3 green bell peppers

Some Tabasco

4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

Some Indian spice mix (not a lot)

Roast Prep

Cut up 1/2 onion (in addition to above), add to slow cooker w/ roast, Worcestershire (a lot, but not measured) and heaping spoon of garlic from jar. Cook ~8 hours, first 2 on high, rest on low. Pull apart with forks.

In Wok

Chop onion and pepper

Brown in wok

Add cooked meat

Combine dry ingredients with ~1/2 cup water, and add to wok

Coat, and cook off excess water

In stockpot

Add tomatoes, beans, start warming

Add wok ingredients

Heat to boiling

Add pineapple

Add milk

Stir

Add Tabasco

Serve

Comments/Results

• Milk was added mostly to combat excess chili powder flavor. In future, reduce chili powder, but milk can stay.
• Could have been spicier, but not cayenne. Consider adding a hot pepper or other flavorful heat
• Pineapple chunks were too big. Use same amt, but in smaller chunks. Another can wouldn't hurt.
• I personally didn't like the green peppers. Consider switching to something else. Suggestions?

Future Work

• Add BBQ sauce (Diana sauce? Prolly not Sweet Baby Rays)
• Add more/different veggies (Carrots? Red onions?)
• Asian flavors (Oyster-Flavored sauce?)
• Change source of heat (Spicy mustard? Jalapenos/ other peppers?)

Intro. . . or, what the heck is this blog?

Our ward had a chili cookoff last Sunday, and, if I may be permitted a moment of arrogance, our chili was pretty darn good (recipe to follow in next post). Basically, we took my roommate's standard chili recipe,added pineapple, and changed the meat from hamburger to a crock pot roast. This is not the first time we had done this, and I think last time we did this, it turned out better. Unfortunately, we had no record of what we did last time, so we had to start from scratch again.

We have a pretty (read: very, very) nerdy apartment (1 chemist, 2 engineers, and a computer scientist), and we frequently joke about applying scientific principles to mundane problems. So I half jokingly said that I was going to make a lab notebook for the things I cook. And then I realized that this was the perfect solution. I love to experiment, but I'm terrified of failure. Well, I've recently failed in my new graduate research lab, but these failures are just a part of doing science; the important thing is learning from your (repeated and frequent) failures. So I got to thinking, if I had a lab notebook for the things I cook, I could jot down ideas for next time to improve what I'm already doing, and record the colossal failures so I can remember what doesn't work.

So here goes. I actually did start a composition style notebook (about 10 minutes ago) to use as my notebook, but anybody who has ever lived with me will quickly come to the same conclusion I did: This notebook is going to last a whole 2 weeks before I misplace it. So, since it's pretty hard to misplace the internet, I decided to do a blog instead.

Plus, it allows others to learn from my mistakes as well. : p