I know, these are not Maine specialties, but I recently spent a couple days eating around Rhode Island, and am in love with the delightful and delicious quirkiness of the food.
In addition to red chowder and clam cakes, other idiosyncratic dishes specific to the Ocean State are coffee milk, chow mein sandwiches, “cabinets” (milk shakes), johnnycakes, doughboys (fried dough), fried calamari and pickled banana peppers, and stuffies (baked stuffed clams).
Then there is the whole arcane vocabulary surrounding Rhode Island frankfurter preparations, including “weiners all the way,” a special small veal and pork frank topped with chili meat sauce, chopped onions and celery salt.
ROCKY POINT RED CHOWDER
This recipe is based on the red chowder that was served at Rocky Point Amusement Park in Warwick, Rhode Island, from about the 1920s through the ’50s. Although the park is long closed, the chowder lives on in the memories of those who loved it. This recipe is a composite of what I found in my research. Don’t turn up your nose at the tomato soup – it’s authentic, and adds not just color and flavor but also some thickening power and a touch of sweetness.
Chopped hard-shell clams can be found fresh or frozen in the seafood section of most supermarkets. This chowder is especially great with fried clam cakes, of course!
Makes 4 servings
4 ounces salt pork or bacon, cut into ½-inch dice or ground in the food processor (about 1 cup)
3 tablespoons butter, plus more if necessary
1 large onion, chopped
2 cups bottled clam juice
1¼ pounds all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced (about 3¾ cups)
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
3 cups chopped hard-shell clams with their liquor
¾ cup condensed tomato soup
1½ teaspoons paprika
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Cook salt pork with the butter in a large, heavy soup pot or Dutch oven over medium-low heat until crisp and the fat is rendered, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove cooked bits with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and reserve. If you don’t have 5 tablespoons of fat in the pot, make up the difference with additional butter.
Add onion and cook over medium heat until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add clam juice, 3 cups water, potatoes and Old Bay. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add clams, tomato soup and paprika and simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (Since the clams, clam juice and tomato soup are salty, the chowder may not need more salt.) Let chowder sit at cool room temperature for at least an hour or, better yet, refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Reheat over low heat, ladle into bowls, and pass reserved pork bits (reheated in the microwave) for sprinkling on the chowder, if desired.
CRISPY CLAM CAKES
Clam cakes (also known as clam fritters) are traditionally served in Rhode Island and South Coast Massachusetts as an accompaniment to that region’s clear or red chowders. This mixture is proportioned exactly right – a high concentration of chopped clams suspended in a batter that fries up light and crispy.
Makes approximately 3 dozen fritters (6 to 8 servings)
1 egg
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup bottled clam juice or clam liquor drained from clams
¼ cup milk
1½ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt, plus more if necessary
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup finely chopped drained hard-shell clams (½ pint)
Vegetable oil for frying
Malt or cider vinegar or lemon wedges
Liquid hot pepper sauce
Whisk egg and oil in a small bowl until blended. Whisk in the clam juice and milk. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl and whisk to blend. Whisk in egg mixture just until blended and stir in clams. The batter should be consistency of thick cake batter. Adjust by adding a little more flour or liquid as necessary.
Heat 2 inches of oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven to 370 degrees F, until a drop of batter sizzles when dropped on the surface. Dip a teaspoon into the oil (I use a long-handled iced tea spoon), spoon out 1 rounded spoonful of batter, drop into the hot fat and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once with tongs, until puffed and golden.
Taste this first fritter for seasoning, adding more salt and pepper to the batter if necessary. If the fritter seems dense, add a bit more liquid. Continue to fry cakes, a few at a time, until all the batter is used. Drain on paper towels.
Pass vinegar or lemon wedges and the bottle of hot sauce to season the clam cakes before serving.
Brooke Dojny is author or co-author of more than a dozen cookbooks, most recently “Chowderland: Hearty Soups & Stews with Sides and Salads to Match.” She lives on the Blue Hill peninsula, and can be contacted via Facebook at:
facebook.com/brookedojny
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