Christmas Eve none traditional Clam Chowder

Yes I know it has been a while, I guess between moving and all the grandchildren life gets crazy.  My Sassy sidekick wishes I would cook all the time LOL but then we would both weigh XXX.  I wanted to throw out some ideas about not cooking traditionally.  I just made clam chowder and yes it is not traditional Boston clam chowder but boy does it taste good.  Just think if everyone cooked what has already been discovered we would have no knew recipes.  Ok, it goes like this, Sassy says she wants clam chowder, so I make some for our Christmas Eve meal.  Since Sassy doesn’t do well with milk I decided to do my own thing with almond milk.  This Clam Chowder does have some tradition, like clams, potatoes, and celery but I think it stops right there.  Take a look, it came out great, at least my Sassy sidekick thinks so .  Creativity comes from your heart, so share your heart this year in cooking.

Go ahead and break some traditional rules, who knows what deliciousness

 you will discover. 

Hot sausage ok I know this does not go in clam chowder but I like hot sausage

One sweet onion cooked down with the sausage

some traditional stuff celery and green onions

got to have red potatoes in you chowder

no clamming here sorry right out of the can but If i was in Florida they would be fresh

Not sure how much little but of this a maybe a lot of that but it is all on the counter

cooking in action I did strain the meat and onion to reduce that oily film on top of the soup

time to add the clams lots of clams I like a meaty soup.  ever have clam chowder and you were the lucky guy that found the one clam

ok I know I said almond milk but I have not found any replacement for Heavy whipping cream any ideas?

Ok the sausage made it a little yellow because of the spice it had in it but that is ok you could garnish well and hid the yellow if you were afraid your friends would not like it LOL but doesn't change the flavor.

ok here is the Almond breeze worked well and it doesn't separate like milk if it gets to hot

now the rest of the fixings

Sassy sidekick did not want to waste her mushrooms so I added them

last but not least celery and later on green onions

all done in my wonderful All Clad coper core pot

Done deal and little early taste test leads to success Onions later tonight

I know it is always a risk but risks are worth it when they are good and when they are bad just another chance to try again for perfection.  but don't be like me my sassy sidekick hates the fact that I do not write down the recipes as I go hard to repeat that way 

Time for Chedder

OK getting setup you need to make sure you are ready pre-prep is always the best way

oh yes when it come to cheese stainless and keeping everything clean is a must

 four gallons of milk I bought whole organic milk and remember it can not be super pasteurized  milk it will not separate the curds from the whey 

Lets not forget to have your sexy sidekick standing by even if she is downing lemon drops :) OK I had a few myself 

 lemon drops in action if you can't have fun doing this then stay out of the kitchen 

this is my press not sure I like it but it is simple my brain is working overtime to come up with a new design 

target temp is 86 and 100 degrees 

Yes it is good to read the directions this process of making cheddar is long.  I think it has lots of room for improvement to shorten the process 

press is prepped with cheese cloth for the Curds 

    

time to cut the curds in to 1/2 cubes don't get in a hurry you still have a long way to go at this point 

used sink for raising the temp to 100 degrees this should not be rushed you are going from 86 to 100 degrees at 2 degree increments every five minutes 

don't forget to stir to keep the curd cubes separated 

  

and stir

and stir

and stir 

time to let it rest

almost there 

I am excited time to separate the curd from the whey

the curd is at the bottom 

this helps to have four hands hum where is my sassy side kick maybe she is having another lemon drop

Ok time to let the whey drain for 15 min.

remember cheddar is a hard cheese that means you have to get most of the moisture out 

Time to get ready to start cheddarring 

my little dome of cheddar

have to cut it in to 3 inch blocks

this is where the cheddaring begins back is the pot at a 100 degree temp  this is done to remove more whey

OK after adding salt time for the press 15 min then turn and 12 hours at around 40lb of pressure 

I did not have enough holes to help the whey drain out had to do some quick modifications 

another row of hole much better drainage going on at 1:30 pm I will flip the cheese then another 24 hrs in the press

this is the area I will use for final drying in about 3 days 

Started make the cheese at 5pm and went to bed at 1:30 am make sure you have enough time to do this task