The Perfect Pantry®

Rhode Island clear clam chowder recipe

Rhode Island folks love their clam shacks. Most of these summer-only operations sit along the south coast on Narragansett Bay, with names that hint of the mythic grandmas' closely-held recipes that set one apart from the other: Flo's, Evelyn's, Aunt Carrie's, Iggy's. Though from time to time you might find a "modern" dish on the menu (and by modern, I mean something that's not fried), you can order two items wherever you go -- clamcakes and chowder. The clamcakes, balls of dough filled with chopped clams, range from ethereal to canonball. And while some shacks sell more than one variety of chowder (pronounced chowdah hereabouts), they all offer Rhode Island clear clam chowder, the local specialty.

Pea soup with pasta and parmesan recipe

Are you feeling soup deprived? I realize that ever since I created Soup Chick®, my blog about all things soup, more than a year ago, I haven't shared many soup recipes here on The Perfect Pantry. That's just wrong, isn't it? So, when my husband Ted declared (to my great surprise) this pea soup his new favorite of all the soups he's taste-tested for me, I knew this was a recipe you'd want to have. It's quick and easy, and the electric green color will brighten up even the most dismal rainy Spring day. I've only made this soup with frozen peas, and it's a great success, but I plan to try it this summer with garden-fresh peas, too. Maybe that will become Ted's new new favorite.

Recipe for salmon chipotle chowder with orzo and corn

It was a dark and stormy night, and the wind blew, and the swirling snow piled up to a height above my knees. Safe and warm inside the house, I hankered for soup, but not just any soup. A good, thick, New England soup. A chowder. And I had to work with what I found in the pantry. Lucky for me, The Perfect Pantry yielded some treasures, and what began as a soup to fill an immediate need turned into a soup so good I ate it twice in one week. I was delighted to find salmon in the freezer, but it's not integral to the soup; use frozen shrimp, bits of leftover chicken, or omit the protein altogether. Whenever I buy a can of chipotle chiles in adobo, I open it immediately and empty the contents into a container with a tight-fitting lid. I keep that in the refrigerator for months, to perk up everything from mayonnaise to scrambled eggs. It's a key element in the success of this recipe, as is the roux that transforms this soup into a chowder.

Dried mushrooms (Recipe: mushroom Stroganoff soup, improved)

One undefinable thing to know about dried mushrooms:

I have a big old mason jar where for many years I've stored dried mushrooms. The last time we visited the south of France, too long ago, I purchased two large bags of dried cepes from a mushroom farmer at a small weekly market near the village where my sister-in-law lives. When I got home, I put those mushrooms in the jar, and used them sparingly, because they were a precious souvenir of our travels and also because they were so potent that only small amounts were needed to impart rich flavor. The mushrooms lasted for years, and to this day, every time I open the jar, though the mushrooms are long gone, the aroma of deep woods remains. Damp earth, fresh grass, deep shade: all of those smells stayed in the jar. I can't really define what the woods smell like, just that it's the aroma of dried mushrooms.