I seem to be doing an awful lot lately of a thing I always said I would never do on this here blog, which is writing about recipes that taste fabulous but that, well, didn’t take a great picture. Part of this is because the Southern husband always tells me my pictures are fabulous (this is the definition of love is blind, just for the record) and part of this is because some recipes are just plain too scrumptious for me not to share. And this is why you are getting this recipe for clam chowder baked potatoes. They may not be pretty, but they have a spectacular personality!
Picture this with me if you will: a warm and wonderful baked potato is sitting in front of you. You scoop out the fluffy insides and mash them up together with a mixture of sauteed shallots, chopped celery, clam juice, cream and minced clams, and then you stuff that whole glorious mixture back into the potato skin shell. The result is a wonderful, chowdery concotion of clams and potato that turns an innocent baked potato into a scrumptious one plate supper. The potato itself may LOOK like Cinderella before the fairy godmother showed up, but after one bite this potato turns into a princess.
And speaking of princesses, and just so I can keep my unblemished record of not putting up any posts that don’t have at least ONE picture of something beautiful, here’s a totally unrelated picture of the Southern daughter looking like a princess.
I know, I know. But mamas are allowed to work their babies into any conversation, even one about clam chowder baked potatoes!
Ingredients
4 russet potatoes, scrubbed, baked and slightly cooled
3 tablespoons butter
1 shallot, chopped
2 stalks celery, sliced thinly
1/4 cup heavy cream, room temperature
2 6 ounce cans minced or chopped clams, drained and juice reserved
Salt and pepper
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 (or if you have baked the potatoes in the oven, just leave it on. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut an oval in the top of each of them. Carefully scoop out the insides and put in a medium sized bowl.
2. Melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium high heat. Add shallot and celery and saute until tender, about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add 1/4 cup reserved clam juice and 2 tablespoons butter to potato insides and mash well. Add heavy cream in small amounts until the potatoes are the consistency you like (they should look like regular mashed potatoes - you might not need all the cream.
4. Stir celery mixture and minced clams into the potatoes, and add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Stuff the potato shells with the mashed potato mixture. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until warmed through, about 10-15 minutes. Serve at once.
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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder… right? I behold a beautiful
baked potato with clam goodness!! I think you romanced it well with the bit of green…
made me want to eat it now. My husband makes awesome clam chowder really he does but it it is quite an undertaking. Thinking this could be our quicker version.
As far as a true beauty? Yes mama you have one on The Southern Daughter and if I remember correctly, this is when she was still The Southern Teenager:-)..
Happy Sunday! Can’t wait to give this a go!!
DEFINITELY in the eye of the beholder. And you are right about the teenager part…sniffle!
This sounds absolutely wonderful! Beauty is sometimes only skin deep…..and I say ‘sometimes’ because you have shown us some beautiful recipes – literally – and of course there is your beautiful daughter!
Thanks for this one…..
Aw, thanks on all! You made me smile.
I speak from experience when I say they can’t all be lookers! And often, the worse of a looker they are, the better they taste. Although…you’ve made this baked potato look pretty damn good.
You are the best – and that’s what the Southern husband said…but of course, he relies on me for dinner so he’s biased.
My mother used to try to bake cakes (from scratch) and they always collapsed or fell apart as she put icing on them.
She would weep and say she was never going to get it right.
And my dad would hug her and say that she baked the best Ugly Cakes he had ever tasted. And from then on, we all used to ask for Chocolate Ugly Cakes for dessert.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, even when it is a baked potato
OK, I absolutely LOVE this story. Love. xx
Good morning, I have featured your gorgeous recipe on my blog for my weekly seafood round-up called Seafood Frenzy Friday. I have also linked this recipe to your original post so that my readers will be forwarded to your site. Thank you for allowing me to share and have a wonderful weekend. Here is the link: http://carriesexperimentalkitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/seafood-frenzy-friday-week-52.html
Thanks so much for including me and have a great weekend!