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Clam Chowder, Cabby Shack Copycat

Clam Chowder, Cabby Shack Copycat

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Yield: 4

AI

To make a thick, ultra-creamy copycat version of the legendary Cabby Shack clam chowder from Plymouth, MA, build a rich roux base loaded with chopped sea clams, diced potatoes, bacon, and heavy cream so your spoon practically stands up on its own.

  • 4slices thick-cut bacon, chopped
  • ¼cup unsalted butter
  • 1medium yellow onion, finely diced
  • 2ribs celery, finely diced
  • 3cloves garlic, minced
  • ⅓cup AP flour
  • 2cups bottled clam juice
  • 1cup chicken or seafood broth
  • 3cups half-and-half (or heavy cream for an even thicker texture)
  • 3cans (6.5 oz each) chopped or minced clams, juice reserved
  • 1½lbs russet or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and diced small
  • 1bay leaf
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Optional finish:

  • 1TBS melted butter drizzled right over the top before serving

Crisp the bacon:

Cook the chopped bacon in a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat until crisp. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside for garnish, leaving the rendered grease in the pot.

Sauté the aromatics:

Add the butter to the bacon grease. Toss in the diced onion and celery. Cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.

Make the thick base:

Sprinkle the flour evenly over the cooked vegetables. Stir constantly for 2 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.

Simmer the liquids and potatoes:

Slowly pour in the bottled clam juice, broth, and half-and-half while whisking vigorously to prevent lumps. Drop in the bay leaf and diced potatoes.

Cook until tender:

Bring the soup to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are tender and the chowder is very thick.

Add the clams:

Stir in the chopped clams with their reserved juices. Simmer gently for another 5 minutes just to heat the clams through (do not overcook or they will get chewy). Discard the bay leaf.

Serve:

Season with salt and pepper. Ladle into bowls, top with the reserved crispy bacon and a tiny splash of melted butter and serve with oyster crackers.

Seafood Paella

Seafood Paella

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Yield: 6

Adapted from: Dinner At The Zoo

This seafood paella is a blend of saffron rice, Spanish chorizo, shrimp, clams and mussels, all simmered together to create an easy and satisfying one pot meal. This dinner is quick enough to make on a busy weeknight, yet elegant enough to serve to company.
Prep: 20 Cook: 45

  • 6cups chicken broth
  • ¼tsp saffron threads
  • 3TBS olive oil
  • ½cup onion diced
  • ½cup red bell pepper peeled, cored and diced
  • 2½tsp garlic minced
  • ½tsp smoked paprika
  • 2¼cups short grain rice such as bomba, calasparra or arborio
  • 8oz Spanish chorizo sausage sliced
  • 12oz shrimp peeled and deveined
  • 8oz mussels cleaned
  • 12oz clams cleaned
  • ¼cup frozen peas thawed
  • 2TBS parsley chopped
  • lemon wedges for garnish
  • salt and pepper to taste

Pour the chicken broth into a pot and bring it to a simmer. Stir in the saffron and ½ tsp salt. Remove the pot from the heat and let stand for 15 minutes.

Heat the olive oil in an extra-large deep skillet or paella pan (14 inches or larger) over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper, then cook for 4-5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic and smoked paprika, then cook for 30 seconds. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper to taste.

Pour in the chicken broth mixture and rice and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes.

Add the sausage, shrimp, mussels and clams to the pan. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until shrimp are pink and opaque and shellfish have opened. You may need to flip the shrimp halfway through so that they cook evenly. Turn the heat to high and cook for 5 more minutes to form a crust on the bottom of the rice.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the peas, then cover the pan for 5 minutes. Uncover the pan, add the parsley, then serve, garnished with lemon wedges if desired.

Creamy Seafood Chowder

Creamy Seafood Chowder

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Yield: about 4 Quarts, 8 to 12 (2 cup) servings

Heavily adapted from Larsen’s Fish Market, Martha’s Vineyard

My version of New England–style seafood chowder. Deeply flavored, yet light. Sure to please.

Time: 60 to 90 minutes

  • shells from 1 to 2 lb of shrimp
  • 6cups water

Aromatics:

  • 6TBS unsalted butter, divided
  • 1large onion, finely chopped
  • 2celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 1TBS Old Bay seasoning
  • ½tsp freshly ground black pepper, plus more
  • 1TBS mirin or Shaoxing cooking wine
  • 2cups clam juice, divided

Vegetables:

  • 1-2lb potatoes (any kind), peeled, cut into ½-inch pieces

Seafood:

  • 1lb white fish (cod, haddock or other)
  • 12oz shrimp, peeled and deveined and cut in half
  • 8-12oz scallops, cut into half or quarters (depending on size)
  • 110 oz can whole clams

Chowder:

  • 6TBS butter
  • 6TBS AP flour
  • 16oz half-and-half


Shrimp stock: Add shells from 1 to 2 lb shrimp to a 2-3 quart sauce pan over medium high heat. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add 6 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Set aside.

Cook aromatics: Melt 1 TBS butter in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Cook onion and celery, stirring often, until translucent, about 5 minutes.

Mix in Old Bay and ½ tsp pepper and mirin and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Add ½ cup clam juice, bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are very soft, for about 5 minutes.

Cook vegetables: Add shrimp stock and remaining clam juice and bring to a boil. Add potatoes (and optional carrots). Simmer, uncovered, adjusting heat as needed, until just tender, for 5 to 10 minutes.

Half-and-half mixture: While the potatoes are simmering, melt 3 TBS butter in a separate 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, until light blond in color, for about 2 minutes. Whisk in half-and-half and 1 cup chowder broth (skimmed off the top) and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to simmer, and cook, still whisking, until thickened and creamy.

Cook fish and shellfish: Add fish and shellfish and cook, stirring gently, just until mixture returns to a simmer, for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

Chowder: Stir half-and-half mixture into chowder and return to medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring gently. Remove from heat, season with salt and more pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls and serve with oyster crackers and/or toasted Boule.

Cioppino

Cioppino

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Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis / Food Network

Broth:

  • 3TBS olive oil
  • 1large fennel bulb, thinly sliced
  • 1onion, chopped
  • 3large shallots, chopped
  • 2tsp salt
  • 4large garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • ¾tsp dried crushed red pepper flakes, plus more to taste
  • ¼cup tomato paste
  • 1(28-oz) can diced tomatoes in juice
  • 1½cups dry white wine
  • 5cups fish stock
  • 1bay leaf

Seafood:

  • 1lb manila clams, scrubbed
  • 1lb mussels, scrubbed, de-bearded
  • 1lb uncooked large shrimp, peeled and de-veined
  • 1½lb assorted firm-fleshed fish fillets such as halibut or salmon, cut into 2-inch chunks
  • ½lb calamari, cleaned
  • ½lb sea scallops, abductor removed

Broth: Heat the oil in a very large pot over medium heat.

Add the fennel,onion, shallots, and salt and sauté until the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and ¾ tsp of Yield: , and sauté 2 minutes.

Stir in the tomato paste. Add tomatoes with their juices, wine, fish stock and bay leaf. Cover and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until the flavors blend, about 30 minutes.

Seafood: Add the clams and mussels to the cooking liquid. Cover and cook until the clams and mussels begin to open, about 5 minutes.

Add the calamari, scallops, shrimp and fish. Simmer gently until the fish and shrimp are just cooked through, and the clams are completely open, stirring gently, about 5 minutes longer (discard any clams and mussels that do not open). Season the soup, to taste, with more salt and red pepper flakes.

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve.