Page:Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management.djvu/1801

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Ingredients.—1 quart of clams, 6 or 8 large potatoes cut into dice, 2 onions cut into dice, 4 ozs. of bacon or pork cut into dice, 4 tomatoes sliced, 2 level teaspoonfuls of salt, ¼ of a teaspoonful of pepper.

Method.—Wash, drain, and chop the clams. Fry the pork or bacon and onions until the latter is very lightly browned, put in the potatoes and tomatoes, barely cover with cold water, add salt and pepper, and cook gently for about 30 minutes. Put in the clams, add more seasoning if necessary. Continue to cook slowly for 10 or 15 minutes longer, and serve. If liked, the chowder may be thickened by adding crushed cracker (biscuit) crumbs.

Time.—About 1¼ hours. Average Cost, 1s. 8d. Sufficient for 5 or 6 persons. Seasonable, September to April.

Ingredients.—½ a peck of clams in the shell, 1½ pints of milk, 1 pint of boiling water, 2 ozs. of butter, 2 ozs. of flour, 1 dessertspoonful of chopped onion, 1 dessertspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, salt and pepper.

Method.—Wash and brush the clams well, place them in a steamer, or in a large saucepan with just enough water to prevent the bottom layer burning, and cook them gently until the shells can be easily opened with a knife. Remove the fish from the shells, taking care to preserve all the liquor in the shells and saucepan, and take away the thin skin. Remove the black end of each clam with a pair of scissors, and cut the "leather straps" into small pieces, keeping the soft and hard parts of the clams separate until required. Strain the clam liquor into a stewpan, add the boiling water, onion, the hard parts of the clams, a little salt and pepper, simmer gently for 20 minutes, then strain. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, add the clam stock and milk and bring to the boil. Season to taste, simmer gently for 5 minutes to thoroughly cook the flour, then add the soft parts of the clams and the parsley, and serve at once with crackers (biscuits) and pickles.

Time.—About 1 hour. Average Cost,—1s. to 1s. 3d. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons. Seasonable from September to April.

Ingredients.— ½ a peck of clams in their shells, 2 large tomatoes, 2 tablespoonfuls of fresh breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped onion, 1 teaspoonful of finely-chopped parsley, ¼ of a teaspoonful of powdered mixed herbs, salt and pepper, butter, lightly-browned breadcrumbs.

Method.—Prepare and cook the clams as directed in "Clam Soup," and chop them finely. Pass the tomatoes through a fine sieve, stir the