Clam Chowder

One of my favorite things to make when it starts getting cold out is clam chowder.  Because it’s delicious and also because it gives me a reason to use my Le Creuset.  I found a basic recipe online and then adjusted it a little to have more clams and flavor.  It turned out AMAZING!  Here’s the recipe below!

 

Cassi’s Clam Chowder

3 pieces of Bacon diced

4-6.5 oz cans of chopped clams in broth-reserve 8oz of broth and leave remaining broth with clams

1/2 cup water

1 medium onion-diced

8 medium potatoes-diced

1 cup 2% milk

2 Tablespoons flour

2 cups half and half

1 Tablespoon pepper

1 teaspoon salt

First saute bacon until crispy in a large pot.  Next remove the bacon and add the onion to the remaining fat, cooking it until tender.  Next add diced potatoes, 8oz broth, water, salt and pepper to pot and stir.  Let it simmer 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Whisk flour into milk and add to pot with half and half along with the clams and the remaining broth.  Allow flavors to meld for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste if needed.  Serve with warm crusty bread!

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Biloxi

My husband had to go on a business trip to Biloxi, which happened to be on our 1 year wedding anniversary.  So guess what…I went with him!  We had the best time, Biloxi is a great deal if you live within driving distance.  One of my favorite parts about traveling to the coast is the seafood.

The first night we were there we ate at Thirty-Two at the IP hotel.  It was amazing!  Here is the view we had while eating dinner.

The next day I went to eat at the Half shell oyster house for lunch while Matt was at work.  They have a location in Biloxi and also in nearby Gulfport.  I got the Oyster sampler which featured the house specialty, Char-broiled Oysters. And bonus, I got 14 oysters instead of 12!

The next day I was alone again for lunch and decided to eat at Bruno’s.  Bruno’s is connected to a seafood market, and it’s where a lot of the locals eat.  Each day they have lunch specials which include a drink and a dessert.  If you don’t see anything that you like on the menu though they will make whatever you want from the market!  I got the shrimp po’boy when I was there, and it was delicious!

On our last day there we heard that you could go down to the boat docks and buy shrimp fresh off the boat.  We went down to the dock with our cooler and bought 6 pounds of shrimp for only $2/lb!  Really wishing we had bought a lot more because the shrimp is amazing.

The shrimp boats.

Cleaning our shrimp when we got home.

Grilling some shrimp the next day.