Down the shore....

Something kind of exciting is happening at work. Sur La Table has partnered with the Smithsonian Museum of American History for the development of a new demonstration kitchen in the Wallace H. Coulter Performance Plaza at the museum. On Fridays beginning in July, the museum will put on Food Fridays at the National Museum of American History, where guest chefs partner with museum food historians for a cooking demonstration for the museum guests. Sur La Table chefs will be the featured chefs on one Friday per month, and I've been asked to do the first SLT session on July 17th. The demonstrations will be held at 11am and 1pm, if you're in the DC area that day, I'd love to see you at the museum!

Each month is a different topic, July is "Summertime Cooking in America". When brainstorming ideas with my bosses at SLT and the Smithsonian representatives, we started talking about the summer tradition along the mid-Atlantic and New England coast of "going to the shore". When I lived in DC, of course folks talked about enjoying a weekend at the Delaware or Maryland beaches, I even spent a weekend in Rehoboth Beach myself. But "going to the shore" has an entirely different meaning in Philadelphia and New Jersey. The city empties. People rent houses and spend the entire summer at the shore. The local news stations set up satellite studios up and down the Jersey and Delaware shore, and they lead the news with stories of beach town festivals, changes in local regulations over beach access fees, and the traffic reports are centered on which routes are the most backed up going to/from the beach. This is the story from Delaware up the coast to Maine, and it was the perfect inspiration for our demonstration menu.

For the demonstration, I'll be preparing Maryland Crabcakes, Old Fashioned Maine Lobster Roll, and New England Clam Chowder. I've got pretty good recipes already for the crabcakes and lobster roll, but I didn't have one for clam chowder. So, I spent my afternoon in the kitchen, and I'm pretty pleased with the results. I hope you think so, too.

New England Clam Chowder

Serves 8

1 50-count bag of cherrystone clams

4 cups water

1 cup diced bacon

1 large white onion, diced

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 cups cream

2 tablespoons chopped chives

Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

Place the clams in a colander and rinse thoroughly with cold water. Discard any clams that have cracked shells or that do not close. Place the cleaned clams in the pasta or steamer insert of a large pot.

Add the water to the pot and bring to a boil. Place the insert with the clams into the pot and cover with a lid. Continue to boil until the clams have opened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and allow to cool. When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells and place on a cutting board; discard the empty shells and any unopened clams. Roughly chop the clam meat and place in a small bowl. Pour the clam cooking water water through a cheesecloth-lined sieve into a bowl and set aside.

Place a large soup pot over medium low heat and add the bacon. Cook the bacon, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the bacon is browned and crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pot and place on a paper towel lined plate. Increase the heat to medium and add the onions to the pot with the bacon fat. Cook, stirring, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onions and mix through. Add the reserved clam cooking water and potatoes to the onions and bring to a high simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in the cream and continue to simmer for about 5 minutes more. Stir in the reserved bacon. Taste and adjust seasoning with Kosher salt and black pepper.

To serve, ladle into bowls and garnish with the chopped chives.