Foodies,
I made a fresh New England style Clam Chowder tonight with one very big change. I’m into bodybuilding and martial arts so I’ve always been a high protein less carbs kind of guy who has thrown out white flour and starchy veggies almost completely out of my diet. Yet New England clam chowder is one of my absolute favorites. What to do?
Since the big calorie culprit here is the white starchy potatoes, I made a very important change – I substituted in white cauliflower instead. So my base began with frying bacon and draining a good deal of the fat away, frying fresh diced Vidalia onions in it, and then adding the clam juice, milk, and 1 head of cauliflower. For seasoning I added in a 1/2 tsp each of whole peppercorns, celery seed and smoked sea salt.
I brought this to a rapid boil and then lowered immediately to a simmer until the cauliflower was soft and tender. Then I pureed everything in a blender and added in the clams.
The result? The taste said New England Clam Chowder but the texture said cream of cauliflower. Too much of a clash so I had to make a compromise. I diced and boiled exactly one large potato until soft and tender, and then pureed this with some of the chowder and mixed back into the chowder. This helped smooth out the texture quite a bit and make it more like a traditional chowder.
I’ll probably use an even mix of potato and cauliflower for the next batch. Still, this is a pretty good way of getting a somewhat healthier version of clam chowder.