It's a rainy, grey day outside, and cooler than it had been the past few days (down to 10º from 25º), so something warm and hearty was most welcome. I had theoretically been saving this particular can of chopped clams for stuffing steaks, following an 18th century recipe, but my enthusiasm got the better of me, and once I had chowder on the brain it was hard to shake. I've never actually made clam chowder from scratch by myself before, but I have cooked clams, and this would be just as easy to make with steamed clams.

Great Swamp Clam Chowder, New England Style

2 tbsp bacon drippings, or butter
medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 fist-sized potatoes, large diced
2 c/5 dL milk
6.5 oz/180 g can chopped clams in clam juice
2 small carrots, peeled and sliced
2 green onions or stalks of wild garlic, chopped
0.5 tsp fresh sage, chiffonade
0.5 tsp fresh basil, chiffonade
tbsp dried parsley
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp Penzeys shrimp & crab boil mix/Old Bay seasoning mix*
0.25 tsp cracked peppercorns
2 tbsp flour (optional)

*What's in this? According to the catalog: yellow and brown mustard seed, allspice, coriander, Ceylon cloves, cracked bay leaves, cracked ginger, Tellicherry peppercorns, chili pepper, dill seed and caraway seed. If you're overseas and can't get some, I'll be in Europe again next month.

Melt the fat in a large saucepan. Cook the onion and garlic until fragrant. Add the potatoes, and cook until the onions start to colour. Pour in the milk. Drain the clams, adding the juice to the milk; reserve clams. Add the carrots and wild garlic. Once the milk is at a simmer, keep the pot at a simmer over low heat for about 40 minutes. Add the herbs and spices to taste. (If you think by now it ought to be a little thicker, whisk in the flour a little at a time and cook a couple minutes more to thicken.) Remove from heat. Stir in reserved clams. Let sit three minutes to bring the clams up to temperature.

If you need to reheat it, don't bring it the whole way to the boil, as that makes the clams rubbery and contribued to your dislike of clams as a kid, believe me. This was lovely with toasted slices of fresh English Muffin bread. Really good for a cold day.

Matzoh, being v. much like an unsalted Saltine, is pretty good at standing in for cream crackers or water biscuits and thus quite useful as sops, provided you season to taste.

Yesterday, I made myself some bechinalt for lunch. It's a good way to use up the giblets that come with whole poultry. I have a categorical compulsion to use up every bit of the birds I roast (might come from having been a poor student for so long), and I have no problem eating poultry organs. The heart/liver/gizzard were gravy staples in my childhood Thanksgiving meals, but no one else in the house is interested in eating giblets, so I'm pretty well on my own.

Bechinalt calls for these giblets to be cooked by boiling, then diced and added to a garlic roux, to which you add the cooking broth. I didn't feel like digging out the book from which I took the original bechinalt recipe (it's under a huge stack of other books, for all I know exactly where it is), so I neither used enough butter, nor enough minced garlic, nor did I add quite enough flour for the quantity of meat I was cooking--as a result, this batch wasn't as thick as I normally make it, and a little on the weak side for taste.

The problem of texture I solved by breaking up a wafer of matzoh in the bottom of the bowl before pouring my soup over. They soaked up quite a bit of the stray liquid in much the same way cream crackers do. This necessitated the addition of quite a bit of salt and pepper to make it sufficiently interesting to eat, but this wasn't a difficult problem to solve. Plus, I used up both the organs and some of the matzoh.

Fairly certain this is kosher, so long as you use olive oil to make your roux instead of butter. I'm aware of some NOLA Jews who make similar dishes with their giblets.

And, yes, that's Chrome in the background. smarriveurr, in his thoughtfulness, brought home a wonderful surprise for me--a wireless router--so now I can keep an eye on my cooking and don't have to run upstairs for the 'net connexion to check my online recipes.

Being in the kitchen so helps to make things make sense.

Matzoh Ball Soup

This soup, at its root, is comprised of a stock base and knaydelach made from matzoh meal. Very "traditional" recipes may call for only a little carrot and celery, but I'm of the opinion that if it's in your kitchen and you'd put it in chicken soup, it's grand for this recipe. All the veg I normally use, listed here, are kosher for Pesach.

Soup Base

few litres of chicken stock
5 parsnips, peeled and sliced
5 carrots, same
couple ribs celery, chopped
large onion, diced
2 bay leaves
couple cloves garlic, rough chopped

Simmer together as long as you see fit. [Nota bene for "But Why is the Rum Gone?" Test Kitchen fans: I've seen some recipes calling for a shot of vodka. Strangely enough, I don't usually have vodka around the house, so you'll have to give it a go on your own. I hear it's to act as "antifreeze" for storage, but can't confirm.] You can also add bits of chicken.

Knaydelach (makes six or so - I always double this)

2 eggs
couple tablespoonsful chicken stock
couple tablespoonsful schmaltz (rendered poultry fat)
2 squares matzoh bread, ground up into medium-fine meal*
few grinds fresh pepper
diced green onion or parsley (optional, and I never use it)

Whisk together the eggs, stock and schmaltz. Fold in the matzoh meal and the pepper. Let sit. No, really, I mean it; walk away for 10 minutes or so. The matzoh meal will absorb a lot of the liquid, and the texture will change radically. Once you think you can roll it into workable balls, wet your hands with water (important!), take a bit more than a tablespoonful and roll it lightly between your hands to shape it. Drop into the simmering stock to cook.

There are a couple schools of thought on the knaydelach: heavy/dense v. light/fluffy. If you're of the former school, use plenty of schmaltz and compress to your heart's content. If you're of the latter school, shape as little as possible. Some cooks of the latter school will add seltzer to the matzoh dough, and technically this isn't chametz, but this strikes me as being a little counter to the spirit of Pesach. The way I make them is somewhat more of the former school and with a light touch, because the uncooked knaydelach sink; you can tell that they're done when they float.

Once the knaydelach are floating, yeah, they're edible, but let them cook a bit longer, as this allows them to pick up some of the flavour from the stock and adds (pardon the awful Pennsyltucky-Deutch pun) schmecks appeal. There's already a bit of pepper in already, but make sure you season to taste before you serve.

* You can do this quite handily in a blender, creating about 60 g/0.5 c of matzoh meal, or you can use matzoh meal from a box.