Clam Chowder and Christmas

I don't know why we had clam chowder for our tree trimming party in 1989 but we did and it started a tradition. Perhaps it isn't a tradition for the whole family since my daughters don't seem to like sea food as much as Cliff and I. It seems to me that that year we also started eating tourtière as one of our pre-Christmas treats. Below is our chowder recipe:

Ingredients

1/4 C butter
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1/2 C flour
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
3 medium potatoes
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t thyme
2 5 oz cans of baby clams

1. Melt butter. Sauté onion till transparent and fragrant. Don't brown. Add flour and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Whisk in milk. Add parboiled potatoes and spices. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or till the potatoes are tender.

3. Add clams and juice. Reheat at serving time. Garnish with croutons, bacon pieces and chopped onions.

Pumpkin Muffins

Easy
Ready in 45 mins

Ingredients
Serves: 12
1 small sugar pumpkin, seeded
375g plain flour
400g caster sugar
2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cloves
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon salt
160ml vegetable oil
3 eggs

Preparation method

Prep: 20 mins |Cook: 25 mins
1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas 4. Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin cases.

2. Split pumpkin in half. Remove seeds and strings. Place on baking tray, cut side down. Cover with foil and bake in preheated oven until tender, about 90 minutes. Scoop out pumpkin and puree in blender. Weigh out 500g of pumpkin puree; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, bicarb, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the 500g pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and eggs. Stir pumpkin mixture into flour mixture until smooth. Scoop muffin mixture into prepared muffin cups.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.

Lemon Chicken

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients

• 3 juicy lemons
• 50g butter
• 3 tbsp clear honey
• leaves from 4 rosemary sprigs
• 1 garlic clove , finely chopped
• 8 chicken pieces, such as thighs and drumsticks, with skin
• 750g potatoes , peeled and cut into smallish chunks (You could also serve with rice!)

Serves 4
Easily doubled

Preparation and cooking times

Prep 5 - 10 mins
Cook 1 hr

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas 6/fan180C. Squeeze the juice from 2 lemons into a small pan and heat with the butter, honey, rosemary, garlic and salt and pepper, until the butter melts and it smells fragrant.
2. Lay the chicken in a roasting tin - don't pile it up or it won't cook so well. Add the potatoes and drizzle with lemon butter to coat evenly. Cut the third lemon into 8 wedges and tuck them in. (Can be made up to 2 hours ahead up to this point.)
3. Roast for 50 minutes - 1 hour until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are crisp and golden. Serve with a green salad.

Fish Stew

Ingredients
Serves: 4
2 tbsp olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large red pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
450g sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
500ml fish or vegetable stock
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
225g frozen peas
175g frozen sweetcorn
600g skinless white fish fillet, cut into bite-sized pieces
salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh thyme leaves to garnish (optional)

Preparation method
Prep: 10 mins | Cook: 30 mins
1. Heat the oil in a large deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are light gold.
2. Add the pepper and sweet potatoes, cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the sweet potatoes begin to soften. Stir in the stock, thyme and a pinch of salt. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are just tender. Stir in the peas and sweetcorn.
3. Place the fish on top of the vegetables, cover and cook gently for 8–10 minutes or until the fish is cooked through. Season to taste with black pepper, then serve immediately sprinkled with fresh thyme leaves if you are using them.