Cooked on a wood cook stove!
If you’re thinking Mississippi Clam Chowder? I thought it was New England Clam Chowder! Read on, you’re in for a treat!
This is an original recipe brought to you by Cozy Kitchen Wood Stove–a wood cook stove friendly recipe.
This turned out perfect! My husband does not hand out compliments easily. His exact words, “You did better than a Yankee on this!”
Our little family has traveled the entire US and has lived on the East Coast, the Gulf Coast, the West Coast, and Alaska. Lynn, my husband, and I met when his dad was the pastor of our small country church when I was 12 years old. We married when I was 17, and he joined the Navy. Four years aboard the nuclear espionage submarine, Parchee, was quite enough for this country girl.
After a four year respite on the family farm, we decided we might very well starve to death, and we were expecting our daughter Wendy. He decided that the Coast Guard could be the solution for us, and it was. But after 20 years, he retired, basically because I begged him to, and we returned to the family farm here in Mississippi.
Mississippi is like a second mother to those of us who were born and grew up here. It will always draw you back. Roots run deep. Our granddaughters are the 8th generation to live on our family farm here along Horsepen Creek in north central Mississippi—the foothills of Appalachia.
Indians still lived in this area when our pioneer ancestor moved here in 1833. Grandpa Isaac Williams said he moved here, “the year the stars fell.” THE YEAR THE STARS FELL (read about it here) The Chickasaw Cession (also known as the Treaty of Pontotoc) had just been signed.
I guess I’ve told you this little snippet of family history to say this— you will find all kinds of food on this blog, from New England Clam Chowder to shrimp creole, (inspired by some of the best chefs in New Orleans). From perfect enchiladas to halibut etouffee. All of that beautiful, white, HUGE Alaskan fish was just screaming to be made into etouffee—at least I thought so!
And of course, you will find old southern favorites—simple home cooked meals that don’t cost a fortune to make. Chicken’n’dressing, southern chicken’n’dumplins, and deserts like egg custards and simple old fashioned chocolate pie. Food from the Great Depression era of the 1930’s.
Both of my grandmothers raised their families in the middle of the Great Depression. I grew up in the kitchen beside them, and I guess some of their passion for cooking rubbed off on me.
My Nanny’s old fashioned egg custards and chocolate pies were to die for! She baked a lot in the winter months, and her “pie safe” was a large, waxed, cardboard apple box that she stored under the bed. When you raised the lid, glistening meringue winked back at you–just daring you to steal a bite!
Of course, the bedroom was cold as a refrigerator back in those days. Many a winter night, she would heat the iron, wrap it in a towel, and put it at my feet when I went to bed. But after a few minutes, I would sink down into the feather mattress and be warm as toast.
Today, the very first time I cooked on my new wood cook stove, I decided to make clam chowder. This is the procedure that I followed. I rarely measure anything, but I did today—just for you.
Ingredients:
- 3 cans clams (drained, juice reserved)
- butter (half a stick)
- large onion diced
- 3 ribs celery diced
- 5 cloves garlic (crushed and diced)
- 3 bay leaves
- 4 slices bacon
- 3 medium potatoes peeled and cubed
- 1 can whole kernel corn drained
- 6 T. flour
- 6 c. milk
- 3 chicken boullion cubes
- 1/2 t. Thyme
- 1 t. oregano
- Kosher salt and pepper to taste (start with 1 1/2 t. Salt—1t. Pepper)
- Parsley flakes ( to taste) start with 1/2 t.
Procedure:
Build up fire in firebox; my oven thermostat said 350 degrees. Place your pot directly over the firebox—that is where the stove top is the hottest. Later, if it starts to boil too rapidly, you can adjust the heat by moving the pot a little to the right away from the direct heat underneath. Unlike an electric or gas range, the pot or skillet does not have to actually sit on the eye. The entire stove top is hot.
- cube bacon and put in large dutch oven (or a heavy pot)
- cook until crisp (remove and leave grease in pot)
- to bacon grease, add chopped onion and 5 cloves of chopped garlic
- cook until transparent (3-5 minutes)
- add 3 chicken bouillon cubes and 1/2 stick butter to onions
- crush cubes with wooden spoon
- add 3 bay leaves and spices (1/2 t. Thyme, 1 t. oregano, 1 1/2 t. Salt, 1 t. Black pepper)
- put 6 T. Flour in small bowl; add just a little milk and stir to make a paste; add more milk a little at a time—stirring to thin it out and remove any small lumps. Keep adding milk until you have 2 cups. I did this in a 2 cup measuring cup.
- add this milk/flour to onions in pot
- Add 4 more cups milk (6 total cups milk)
- add cubed potatoes (I cook my potatoes separately and add at the end but you can add them now to save a pot.)
- cook until potatoes are starting to tender and soup is starting to thicken nicely–stirring frequently
- add corn and clams and cook 5 minutes
- add reserved bacon pieces and cooked potatoes if you have cooked them separately.
Yummylicious!
Procedure with photos
- cube bacon and put in large dutch oven (or a heavy pot)
- cook until crisp (remove and leave grease in pot)
- to bacon grease, add chopped onion and 5 cloves of chopped garlic
- cook until transparent (3-5 minutes)
- add 3 chicken bouillon cubes and 1/2 stick butter to onions
- crush cubes with wooden spoon
- add 3 bay leaves and spices (1/2 t. Thyme, 1 t. oregano, 1 1/2 t. Salt, 1 t. Black pepper)
- put 6 T. Flour in small bowl; add just a little milk and stir to make a paste; add more milk a little at a time—stirring to thin it out and remove any small lumps. Keep adding milk until you have 2 cups. I did this in a 2 cup measuring cup.
- add this milk/flour to onions in pot
- Add 4 more cups milk (6 total cups milk)
- add cubed potatoes (I cook my potatoes separately and add at the end but you can add them now to save a pot.)
- cook until potatoes are starting to tender and soup is starting to thicken nicely–stirring frequently
- add corn and clams and cook 5 minutes
- add reserved bacon pieces and cooked potatoes if you have cooked them separately.
I was surprised at how easy this was! And since it was all cooked in a single pot, it was a super simple, wood cook stove friendly recipe! I had the fire going really good in the wood cook stove well before I started. So well, in fact, that here in Mississippi in December, I had to raise all the windows in the house!
The bacon started sizzling the instant the pot hit the stove! So did the onions and garlic.
I have to say, I ran into absolutely no problems cooking this recipe on the wood stove top. It took about 35-40 minutes cooking time—same as an electric range.
One thing I really liked—I could just move the pot farther to the right on the stove top and it would stay warm. My husband was working at our family sawmill up in the pasture and could not come to eat right away. It was still piping hot when he made it to the house!
Cozy Kitchen Wood Stove 