Bratten’s was the name of a seafood restaurant that began in Salt Lake City, but also had a satellite restaurant in Ogden Utah, where my parents used to go.

My father and mother lived for a time in Boston, New England as it was known and fell in love with their clam chowder; Bratten’s came close to what they remembered.

So, somehow I got the recipe (this was before the internet, so maybe from my mother?) and have made it and loved it for many years as it makes a thick chunky soup.  A niece, Lisa, asked if I had a good recipe, for she wanted to serve it on Christmas Eve.  So that’s what prompted this post.  When I get an original picture, I’ll post it, but for now, this one will have to do.

New England clam chowders are white, creamy soups.  If you want the red, tomato-based soup, that’s known as Manhattan-style clam chowder.

Bratten’s New England-style Clam Chowder

2 (6 1/2 ounce cans ) clams, or 1 pound minced clams with juice
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely diced celery
2 cups diced raw potatoes
1 quart milk
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2-3 teaspoons red wine vinegar

Drain juice from clams and pour over vegetables (sometimes I have to add another can of clam juice to cover, or just use a little chicken broth or water).  Cook until tender, about 20 minutes.  Make a white sauce with the butter, flour and milk.*  Add undrained vegetables, clams (chopped, if desired) and vinegar and heat thoroughly.  Season with salt and pepper.  Cook’s Note: Don’t let it stand half warm on the stove.  After serving (immediately), stir it often to let it cool down and refrigerate.

*”Make a white sauce?”  Can you tell this is an old recipe?

To make a white sauce, melt the butter in a heavy pan, and add the flour all at once.  Cook, stirring, until this mixture–a roux–seems to become well-blended and cooked.  Add  the milk*, a little at a time, until it’s a creamy mix, then add the rest of the milk.  If the milk is cold, it will stop the cooking–that’s why I like to do it a little at a time.  Besides the Joy of Cooking Cookbook says to do it that way as well.

I always like soups better the next day.  This one is no exception.

When we were in Italy, their traditional Christmas Eve meal is a feast of many different kinds of fish.  This soup would be perfect to add that kind of celebration.  One more tidbit: we always serve this with Oyster Crackers, small round crackers found in the grocery store.  Trader Joe’s has the best ones.

*Note: Now we make our “white sauce” with chicken broth, and add a little cream at the end.

When I bought the Gourmet Cookbooks at Costco last year (moment of silence, please,  for the closing of Gourmet Magazine) a free one-year’s subscription came to Bon Appétit, the sister publication to Gourmet.  I don’t know if I’ll re-up, but I have to say it’s been a year’s adventure of recipes and cooking.  One issue in particular, the April 2009 issue, I used most of the recipes.  And this recipe, by Molly Stevens,  was one of them.  I remembered it again, because while looking for something to cook up for the Anniversary of Our First Date (some 21  years ago, which my husband refers to as our “semi-anniversary,” since he feels its not a one of the biggies) I found some scallops in the deep freeze, remembered the box of spinach in the fridge and the hoisin sauce in the cupboard.  Score!

I always cut the scallops through the middle to make them thinner, and to make us believe we have more (you can never have too many scallops in your life). They also cook in a flash that way. I use about 1 and 1/2 bags of spinach (approx 5 oz. each), but the same amount of scallions, etc for that step.  Since we don’t drink, I substitute apple juice for the mirin and the last substitution I make is for the chili sesame oil: sesame oil plus a couple of drops of tobasco (one can have too many jars in the fridge of specialized ingredients, I think).

Yield: Makes 6 servings

1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon hot chili sesame oil
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) butter, divided
1/4 cup chopped shallot (about 1 large)
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 serrano chile, seeded, minced, divided (I used jalapeno–a little more mild)
4 5-ounce bags baby spinach
Coarse kosher salt (sea salt works fine)
2 pounds sea scallops, side muscles removed
1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup finely chopped spring onions or green onions (white and pale green parts only)
1/4 cup mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine)*

Whisk first 3 ingredients in small bowl to blend and reserve.

Melt 2 tablespoons butter in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add shallot, 1 tablespoon ginger (I grate frozen peeled ginger instead of chopping it), 2 minced garlic cloves, and half of minced chile. Sauté until shallot is soft, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and add 1 bag spinach. Stir until beginning to wilt. Add remaining spinach, 1 bag at a time, stirring between additions until just wilted. Season with coarse salt and pepper. Keep warm.

Sprinkle scallops with coarse salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with peanut oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook scallops until brown on both sides and just opaque in center, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer scallops to plate; tent with foil.

Add 1 tablespoon butter, spring onions, remaining 1 teaspoon minced ginger, 2 minced garlic cloves, and remaining half of minced chile to skillet. Sauté until onions begin to soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add mirin and simmer until reduced to glaze, 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in hoisin mixture. Reduce heat to medium-low. Whisk in 2 tablespoons butter. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Divide spinach among plates. Top with scallops, dividing equally. Spoon sauce over and serve.

The other night Dave said he’d take me out, but as it got closer to dinnertime, I thought about how tired he was (we both are–this jetlag is tough this time!) and maybe it would be better if we’d just eat in.  So, like most of my recipes, I hopped onto the web to find something to cook.  My favorite site is Epicurious.com, an aggregation of the recipes from Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines.  I like that Foodie People comment on the recipes, warning me or helping me to cook my own version of the dish, although I must admit little patience with those who substitute nearly every ingredient then say they can’t stand the recipe.  I try for a certain amount of fidelity, especially if the rating is high.

The category I browsed that night was Quick Meals, but it wasn’t until the next night that I cooked this up.  I’d give it a very high rating in these categories: low-fat, easy, quick, not-so-pricey and delicious.  Choose a mild white fish (we used Orange Roughy) that is firm and won’t fall apart. I served it with quinoa (see recipe elsewhere on this site) and some sliced al dente carrots, drizzled with the teensiest amount of honey.  We probably didn’t need the carrots, but they were good.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped English hothouse cucumber (about 3/4 of a large cake). Don’t peel, just scrub clean
• 3/4 cup coarsely chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
• 5 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (or more) white balsamic vinegar (I used rice wine vinegar, but had to add more to bump up the taste–used almost 3 Tbls.)
• 1 medium chopped seeded jalepeno chile–remove seeds and inner membrane (and wash hands thoroughly!)
• 2     7-to 8-ounce fillets of a mild white fish
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 6 ounces small red and yellow cherry, pear, or grape tomatoes, halved (about two handfuls, but we like tomatoes)

Preparation

Gazpacho Sauce: Combine cucumber, onions, cilantro, 4 1/2 tablespoons oil, 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar, and chile in processor. Using on/off turns, blend mixture until finely chopped. Transfer to bowl. Season with more vinegar, if desired, and salt and black pepper. (Note: I’m thinking this could be done a couple hours ahead if needed.  It does separate a little, but just stir it back together.)

Sprinkle fish fillets on both sides with salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish and cook 5 minutes. Turn over, cover, and cook until fish is just opaque in center, 4 to 5 minutes.  (This photo is the fillets, before cooking.)

Ladle some gazpacho sauce on each of 2 plates. Top each with 1 fish fillet. Scatter tomatoes atop and around fish and serve.

Per serving (without quinoa or carrots): Calories 361, Total fat 20g, Saturated Fat 3g, Cholesterol 151mg, Sodium 188mg, Carbohydrate 5g, Fiber 1g, Protein 39g