New England Clam Chowder

Ingredients

200 Ml Chicken Stock (low sodium)
.5 L Milk
1 Can of Nestle Cream
3 Small Potatoes
1 Ear of corn
1 Onion
3 Slices of Bacon
50 g of Pork belly (precooked)
2 Big Celery Ribs
1 Lb of small fresh clams
Dash Oregano
Dash Basil
1/2 ts Black Pepper

Directions

Prep all of your ingredients.  Cut the potato, onion, pork belly and celery into 1 cm (appx) pieces and put them off to the side.  Also, remove the corn from the cob and put it off to the side.  Lastly, cut the bacon into lardons and also put it off to the side.  In a blender mix the milk, stock and cream.  Once they are blended place them in a large pot on low heat.  Add the spices to the creamy broth.  Also add the vegetables, pork belly and bacon.  Make sure to continue to stir the soup.  The vegetables shouldn't take too long to cook.  They will probably be thoroughly cooked in about 10 minutes, but taste to test.   

For the clams, make sure that they are thoroughly washed.  Then,  cook them in a medium pan with about 1 cup of water.  Cook the clams on high until they all are opened.  Then, remove the clam meat from the shell and place it in the soup pot.  Also, after discarding the shells, add the clam cooking liquid to the soup (you may want to strain this).

Heat the soup up to high and then you are ready to serve (of course with some oyster crackers). 

Pho

Serves 2

Ingredients Broth
1 Lt beef stock
1 Sliced Mushroom
1 Tbs of sliced onion
1 Tbs chopped scallion
1 Slice pork belly
1 Ts ginger
1 Bay leaf
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch pepper

Noodle
Appx 70 g cooked Rice Noodle

Protein
1 Chicken Breast

Condiments
Sprouts
Sliced fresh Jalapenos
Lime quarters
Chopped Scallions
Flat Leaf Parsley
Chopped Ginger

Directions

Broth
Place ingredients in a medium pot on medium heat and let simmer for 15 minutes. Before adding noodles and chicken, remove bay leaf, chili, and pork belly. These things can be disposed of.

Here is my broth:












Add noodles to broth. Make sure they are cooked before adding.

Lastly, sear your chicken breast. It does not need to be cooked through. Cut it into 1 cm squared pieces and place the chicken in the broth. Give the chicken about 10 minutes in the broth to cook through. Once the chicken is cooked through, you are ready to eat!

Serve the broth, noodles and chicken in a large bowl with your condiments:

Mine were

• Sprouts
• Sliced fresh Jalapenos
• Lime quarters
• Chopped Scallions
• Flat Leaf Parsley
• Chopped Ginger
• Onion slices
  

Add these condiments to your Pho to preferred amounts.

Here is my finished Pho:

Pumkpin Soup

Ingredients (For 2 people)

2.5 Cups cubed pumpkin flesh
1.5 Cups Milk
1/3 Cup Cream
Pinch Salt
Pinch Pepper
1 Tsp Curry Powder
1/3 Cup water
1 Tbsp Sugar
Olive Oil for frying

Directions

Begin with 2.5 Cups of cubed pumpkin. The cubes should be about 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch.













Add the pumpkin to a heated pot which has about 2 glugs olive oil in it.

Cook the pumpkin until it is brown on each side and soft.












Add about 1/3 cup of water to help continue the softening process. Allow the water to boil off (the water is not part of the soup liquid).

After the water has evaporated, your pumpkin pieces should be very soft. Blend them in the pot with an immersion blender (such as the one below). Note that you may want to let the pumpkin pieces cool a little bit before blending.














When the blending process is over the pumpkin should be a smooth paste. Add the milk, cream, salt, pepper, sugar, and curry after the pumpkin has been blended. After adding these ingredients you may want to blend the soup again. It is your choice.

Allow the soup of heat on medium for a few minutes and then serve.


The final product will look like this: