When the fish is done, crumble the bacon and add it to the pot along with the onions and any grease in the pan, the evaporated and whole milks. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover, and turn the heat down. Simmer for five minutes and add salt and pepper to taste.
Chowder invariably tastes better when made a day ahead.
The word "chowder" comes from the French, "la chaudière," a very large copper pot. Several centuries ago, French coastal vil ages would celebrate the safe return of their fishing fleets with a feast. The main course was a fish stew made in la chaudière into which each fisherman would toss part of his catch. "Chaudière" became "chowder" as the tradition made its way across the Atlantic to Canada and Down East. Chowders have continued to be just as idiosyncratic as these long ago concoctions. Pix does not even want to hear about the Manhattan version, but others of us are more open. The Rowe recipe may be happily modified in al sorts of ways.
The chowder is stil quite delectable with olive oil instead of bacon fat. You may also use salt pork. Two kinds of fish make for a more interesting chowder, but these can be any combination of the fol owing: haddock, cod, pol ack, monkfish, and hake. Final y there is the question of garnishes: dil , chopped parsley, oyster crackers, butter are al good. And Faith and Pix's friend on Sanpere, Jane Weiss, swears by her chowder to which she adds curry spices!
LOUISE FRAZIER'S
SOUTHERN CORN BREAD
1 1/2 cups stone ground corn- meal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsps. flour
1 cup buttermilk
2 tbsps. sugar
2 eggs, wel beaten
3 tsps. baking powder
4 tbsps. dripping
Preheat the oven to 350°. Combine the dry ingredients and stir in the wet. Pour the mixture into a lightly buttered 8"
square pan and bake for 40 minutes, checking after 30.
This is a dense, chewy cornbread and serves 6-8. Again, substitutions can be made: skim buttermilk, Egg Beaters, and butter substitutes for the dripping and to grease the pan. Do try to find stone ground cornmeal, though. It gives the cornbread a wonderful flavor and texture. The batter may also be fried in a large pan on top of the stove, flipping it over so both sides are crunchy.
FAITH'S EMERGENCY SEWING
CIRCLE SPREADS: CHUTNEY CHEESE
AND CHÈVRE WITH HERBS
Chutney Cheese:
8 ounces plain cream cheese, room temperature 1 cup chutney
Cream the chutney and cheese together by hand. Do not use a food processor or blender otherwise you end up with cheese sauce. Pix used her own green tomato chutney, which is a spicy combination of the tomatoes, onions, raisins, and walnuts. Al and any varieties of chutney work wel .
Chèvre with Herbs:
4 ounces plain cream cheese, room temperature 4-5 ounces chèvre (100% goat's milk cheese) Herbs to taste Herbed chèvre is readily available in most markets and cheese shops. Pix likes to keep things simple and buys the herbed variety. Combine the cheeses by hand.
The cream cheese makes the combination easier to spread. If you are using your own herbs, rosemary, tarragon, and summer savory are good choices, alone or in combination.
Use both spreads to stuff snow or sugar snap peas, spread on cucumber or zucchini rounds, sweetmeat biscuits, water biscuits, or slightly toasted miniature bagels.
The chutney spread makes a tasty sandwich when combined with smoked turkey or Virginia ham or by itself on date and nut or buckwheat walnut bread.
BAINBRIDGE BUTTERSCOTCH
SHORTBREAD
1 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
'/z cup dark brown sugar
1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together and set aside. Cream the butter until soft and gradual y add the sugar. Add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix wel .
Refrigerate for one hour.
Divide the dough in half and keep one portion in the refrigerator while rol ing out the other to approximately 1/4"
thickness. (The dough gets soft quickly.) Sprinkle the dough with the nuts and gently press them in with the rol ing pin.
Cut into 11/2" squares. Pix uses a paper pattern as she is hopeless at estimating things like this, unlike Faith. Prick with a fork and place the squares on an ungreased cookie sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Bake until golden brown, approximately 15 minutes in a preheated 350° oven. Makes 6 dozen squares. This is a devastatingly rich, crumbly cookie.
FAITH FAIRCHILD'S MAINE
BLUEBERRY TARTE
Pastry:
1 1/2 cups flour
12 tbsps. unsalted butter 1
tbsp. sugar
3 tbsps. ice water
a pinch of salt
Fil ing:
3 cups blueberries
2 tbsps. flour
4 tbsps. sugar
1 tbsp. lemon juice
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse once. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the dry ingredients. Pulse again until the mixture resembles coarsely ground cornmeal. (You may also cut the butter into the flour mixture with two knives or a pastry cutter.) Add the ice water through the feeder tube with the motor running and briefly process until a bal is formed.
Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
Faith makes ice water by adding a few cubes to a glass of water before she starts making the dough.
Rol out the dough on a lightly floured surface and line a 10" fluted tarte pan—the kind with the bottom that comes out. Prick the bottom of the dough-lined pan with a fork.
Combine 2 tbsps. of flour with 2 tbsps. of sugar and dust the bottom.
Add the lemon juice to the fruit and spread evenly over the dough. Sprinkle 2 tbsps. of sugar on the top and place on a baking sheet. Bake in the middle of a preheated 375°
oven for 40 minutes, or until the edges turn slightly brown.
Let cool for ten minutes and remove from the pan to a serving plate. Tastes best warm or at room temperature.
Serves 10. This recipe is also delicious with other summer fruits. Caution: do not use frozen blueberries or you wil have a soggy mess. Pix knows.
Author's Note
There are cooks—and cooks. Pix represents one school; Faith another. I fal somewhere in between. As with the recipes in The Body in the Cast, these can be made successful y by cooks of al natures. Substitutions have been suggested in some cases and certainly feel free to experiment. I'm told I make great chili, but since I put different things in each time depending on what's to hand, I may never develop a recipe for it.
A relative once told me that anyone who could read could cook, a notion I heartily endorse. Cookbooks are always in the stack of books next to my bed (along with mysteries). Crime and food go together wel . Occasional y a passion for one wil lead to the other—as in Faith's and my case. There's nothing we enjoy more than sitting in the backyard with a plate of Bainbridge Shortbread and a cup of tea ... or a glass of wine and a stack of crackers and Chutney Cheese or ... being transported to whatever world a favorite mystery author has chosen this time. I hope you wil join us.