Tour of Fifty States: Rhode Island's Meal

We had Rhode Island's meal this past weekend after a Scout camping trip. We (I) learned that after a weekend of camping, we should have something SIMPLE for dinner.  Like grilled cheese.  Or cereal.

Menu: Rhode Island Clam Chowder, Stuffies, Coffee Milk, Black Cows

Outcome:  Everyone really liked the clam chowder and black cows but Brandi didn't care for the coffee milk or the Stuffies ... that's okay, we just want the kids to try new foods!

Next up:  Bridget selected Connecticut!  (MMM...warm, buttery lobster rolls!) 

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

Rhode Island clear clam chowder is a lesser-known style that is made without cream or tomato and is essentially nothing more than clam broth with potatoes, onions and salt pork.

Prep time:  30 min.  Total time:  1 hour, 10 minutes, plus overnight chilling time for the soup.

Ingredients

• 3 oz. salt pork 
•  3 ¾ lbs quahog or cherrystone clams 
• 3 ½ Tbsp. butter 
• 1 large yellow onion, small dice  
•  clam broth, up to 1 ¾ cups
• 1 ½ lb. large Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and diced   
•  Black pepper  
•  Chopped parsley

Directions

1.      Rinse the clams well under cold running water, scrubbing their shells with a brush.

2.      Dry the clams a bit and place them in the freezer for one hour. This kills the clams and makes the much easier to open. Shuck the clams and reserve every drop of juice that drips from them. Coarsely chop the clams and place them in a covered plastic container, separate from the clam juice. Refrigerate the clams until you are ready to finish the soup. Measure the clam juice; you will need 1¾ cups (make up for any shortage using canned clam broth).

I used canned clams and broth (see note at bottom of recipe)

3.      Rinse the salt pork well under cold running water. Dice the salt pork into 1/4 inch cubes. Rinse it again once it is diced, for a minimum of five minutes. Drain well and set aside.

4.      Melt the butter in a non-reactive saucepan over medium heat. Add the salt pork to the butter and stir until the salt pork begins to render. Add the onions and cook them slowly, stirring often, until translucent (do not allow them to brown). Add the clam juice and the diced potatoes, and bring the soup to a simmer. Cook the soup just until the potatoes are done. Remove the soup from heat, taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

Sauteing the salt pork and onions in butter

 5.      Transfer the soup to a bowl set over a bowl of ice to stop the cooking and cool the soup quickly. Cover and refrigerate until needed. The soup is best made one day ahead of time, to give the flavors time to meld.

6.      Before serving, rewarm the soup: Bring it to a simmer, check the seasoning and add 2 ounces of chopped clams for every (1 cup) serving of chowder. Cook the clams for a minute or two while stirring. Ladle the soup into warm bowls.

Rhode Island!

RECIPE NOTE: This makes about 1 quart of soup.   I needed somewhere around 3 quarts, so I tripled the ingredients.  My yukon gold taters were quite small, so I used seven.  I was not looking forward to shucking 8-10 pounds of clams, so I went with canned.  No problem. 

Stuffies

Prep time:  30 min. Cook time:  20 min.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. oil
• ¼ lb. fresh chorizo or ground pork sausage
• ½ onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ½ green bell pepper, diced
• 3 Rhode Island Quahogs, opened, meat removed, chopped and set aside. (Clean and keep shells) 
• ½ cup chopped clams, including the meat from the quahogs
• ¼ cup Marsala wine
• ¼ cup clam juice
• 2 tsp. dijon mustard
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 bunch chives, minced

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium skillet on medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil and add the sausage. The fat will render out as you stir. 

2.      When the sausage starts to brown, add the onion, garlic, and green pepper and cook for 3 more minutes.

3.   Add the chopped quahogs and clams. Add the Marsala wine and reduce by half.

4.      Add the clam juice and Dijon mustard and stir the mixture until hot, about 2 minutes.

5.      Turn the heat off and fold in the panko bread crumbs and minced chives. If too dry, add a bit more butter or clam juice; if too wet, add a bit more bread crumbs. 

Coming together nicely.

6.      Stuff each half of the clam and place on a baking sheet.

Now why didn't I get a picture of the stuffed clams?  Just the shells? 

7.      Bake the clams for 20 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve with your favorite hot sauce.

Serves 6. 

RECIPE NOTES: I used Portuguese sausage (this was what we had in Hawaii and I like it's seasonings better than Chorizo.)  I couldn't find Quahogs here, so I ended up with topneck clams, which are just smaller/younger  Quahog clams.

Coffee Milk

The official State Drink of Rhode Island.  A Coffee "Cabinet" is Coffee Milk blended with ice cream.

Ingredients

• 1 cup strong brewed coffee
• 1 cup sugar 
•  1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1.      In a medium saucepan dissolve sugar in coffee. Bring mixture to a light boil then reduce to simmer.

2.      Simmer until the mixture has reduced to form a slightly thickened syrup, about 15 minutes.

3.      Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla extract. Cover and refrigerate to cool.

4.      To make coffee milk, add 2 Tbsp. coffee syrup to 8 oz. milk.  Stir and serve. 

Dessert time!

Black Cow

Ingredients

• Root beer
• Chocolate ice cream

Directions

Place a scoop of ice cream in tall glass, pour root beer over.  Serve immediately.