CHOWDERS
Corn Chowder
1 can corn
4 cups potatoes, cut in ¼-inch slices
1½-inch cube fat salt pork
1 sliced onion
4 cups scalded milk
8 common crackers
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper
Cut pork in small pieces and try out; add onion and cook five minutes, stirring often that onion may not burn; strain fat into a stewpan. Parboil potatoes five minutes in boiling water to cover; drain, and add potatoes to fat; then add two cups boiling water; cook until potatoes are soft, add corn and milk, then heat to boiling-point. Season with salt and pepper; add butter, and crackers split and soaked in enough cold milk to moisten. Remove crackers, turn chowder into a tureen, and put crackers on top.
Fish Chowder
4 lb. cod or haddock
6 cups potatoes cut in ¼-inch slices, or
4 cups potatoes cut in ¾-inch cubes
1 sliced onion
1½-inch cube fat salt pork
1 tablespoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons butter
4 cups scalded milk
8 common crackers
Order the fish skinned, but head and tail left on. Cut off head and tail and remove fish from backbone. Cut fish in two-inch pieces and set aside. Put head, tail, and backbone broken in pieces, in stewpan; add two cups cold water and bring slowly to boiling-point; cook twenty minutes. Cut salt pork in small pieces and try out, add onion, and fry five minutes; strain fat into stewpan. Parboil potatoes five minutes in boiling water to cover; drain and add potatoes to fat; then add two cups boiling water and cook five minutes. Add liquor drained from bones, then add the fish; cover, and simmer ten minutes. Add milk, salt, pepper, butter, and crackers split and soaked in enough cold milk to moisten, otherwise they will be soft on the outside, but dry on the inside. Pilot bread is sometimes used in place of common crackers.
Connecticut Chowder
4 lb. cod or haddock
4 cups potatoes cut in ¾-inch cubes
1½-inch cube fat salt pork
1 sliced onion
2½ cups stewed and strained tomatoes
3 tablespoons butter
⅔ cup cracker crumbs
Salt and pepper
Prepare same as Fish Chowder, using liquor drained from bones for cooking potatoes, instead of additional water. Use tomatoes in place of milk and add cracker crumbs just before serving.
Clam Chowder
1 quart clams
4 cups potatoes cut in ¾-inch cubes
1½ inch cube fat salt pork
1 sliced onion
1 tablespoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
4 tablespoons butter
4 cups scalded milk
8 common crackers
Clean and pick over clams, using one cup cold water, drain, reserve liquor, heat to boiling-point, and strain. Chop finely hard part of clams; cut pork in small pieces and try out; add onion, fry five minutes, and strain into a stewpan. Parboil potatoes five minutes in boiling water to cover; drain, and put a layer in bottom of stewpan, add chopped clams, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and dredge generously with flour; add remaining potatoes, again sprinkle with salt and pepper, dredge with flour, and add two and one-half cups boiling water. Cook ten minutes, add milk, soft part of clams, and butter; boil three minutes, and add crackers split and soaked in enough cold milk to moisten. Reheat clam water to boiling-point, and thicken with one tablespoon butter and flour cooked together. Add to chowder just before serving.
The clam water has a tendency to cause the milk to separate, hence is added at the last.
Rhode Island Chowder
1 quart clams
3 inch cube fat salt pork
1 sliced onion
½ cup cold water
4 cups potatoes cut in ¾ inch cubes
2 cups boiling water
1 cup stewed and strained tomatoes
¼ teaspoon soda
1 cup scalded milk
1 cup scalded cream
2 tablespoons butter
8 common crackers
Salt and pepper
Cook pork with onion and cold water ten minutes; drain, and reserve liquor. Wash clams and reserve liquor. Parboil potatoes five minutes, and drain. To potatoes add reserved liquors, hard part of clams finely chopped, and boiling water. When potatoes are nearly done, add tomatoes, soda, soft part of clams, milk, cream, and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Split crackers, soak in cold milk to moisten, and reheat in chowder.
Lobster Chowder
2 lb. lobster
3 tablespoons butter
2 common crackers, finely pounded
4 cups milk
1 slice onion
1 cup cold water
Salt
Paprika or cayenne
Remove meat from lobster shell and cut in small dice. Cream two tablespoons butter, add liver of lobster (green part) and crackers; scald milk with onion, remove onion, and add milk to mixture. Cook body bones ten minutes in cold water to cover, strain, and add to mixture with lobster dice. Season with salt and paprika.
German Chowder
3 lb. haddock
1 quart cold water
2 slices carrot
Bit of bay leaf
Sprig of parsley
1 cracker, pounded
Salt, pepper, cayenne
2 tablespoons melted butter
Few drops onion juice
1 beaten egg
1 quart potatoes cut in ¾-inch cubes
2–inch cube fat salt pork
1 sliced onion
5 tablespoons flour
1 quart scalded milk
¼ cup butter
8 common crackers
Clean, skin, and bone fish. Add to bones cold water and vegetables, and let simmer twenty minutes. Strain stock from bones. Chop fish meat; there should be one and one-half cups. Add cracker, seasonings, melted butter and egg, then shape in small balls. Try out pork, add onion, and cook five minutes. Strain, and add to fat, potatoes, balls, and fish stock, and cook until potatoes are soft. Thicken milk with butter and flour cooked together. Combine mixtures, and season highly with salt, pepper, and cayenne. Add crackers, split and soaked in cold milk.