Salmon Chowder: Warms Winter’s Frosty Breath

I love chowders and soups and stews in the winter and most are just fine, but every now and again you stumble across something deliciously exceptional. 

No, I’m not talking about the rich and gorgeous beauty you met just two weeks after you married your wife.  That was just a shot in the dark and one quickly forgotten, until two weeks after that when another….but let’s stick to chowder. And for goodness sakes don’t worry.  As long as the payments keep coming your secret’s safe with me.

See, this chowder IS something exceptional you CAN share with the woman who wears your ring and is quick to keep you intellectually honest by continually pointing out an opposing point of view.

Ok, so let’s pour a huge glass of white wine and get cooking!  Ok, I’ll be honest. A big snifter of Armagnac.

Salmon Chowder

Remember, all recipes are only a starting point.  One person’s preference.  A cook never hesitates to veer in subtle or obvious ways.  Be BOLD!

½ a roasted, skinned and diced red bell pepper

½ pound potatoes cut into 1inch cubes

1 cup or more sliced mushrooms

½ cup diced onion

½ pound sliced bacon, cut crosswise into ¼ inch wide strips

2 or more cups leeks thin sliced, white and pale green parts only

2 cups fresh or frozen corn

1 cup shredded carrots

1 heaping teaspoon herbs de Provence

4 Tablespoons butter

3 cups whole milk

2¼ cups heavy cream

1½ pounds of fresh caught salmon, skin removed, cut into 1 inch cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

Before serving, sprinkle with chopped fresh chives for garnish

The Process

Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender. Drain and set aside.

Fry the bacon in a five-quart heavy pot until crisp. Remove the bacon and add onion, corn, and herbs de Provence to the pot.  Stir for about five minutes, or until onions are wilted.

Add milk and cream and bring to a very light simmer.  Immediately reduce heat and add salmon, bacon, salt, pepper and cook until salmon is just cooked through and begins to break up, about five to eight minutes.

I like my chowder pretty thick. Too thick for you?  Add a little more cream, or some chicken broth.

Your wife will love you and forgive all sins…..hahaha, just kidding. Wives don’t forgive.

Fratello's Italian Tavern, North Charleston, SC

Today your very friendly blogger is here to tell you about a fab Italian spot in North Charleston, Fratello’s Italian Tavern. 

Super lunch spot, but first a word about my fascinating childhood, when I learned all Italian food comes from a can via the capable hands of Chef Boyardee.

Know all about that brand?  ‘Course not.  As usual you need my help. “Hector Boyardee" was an Italian immigrant who founded the company in 1928, in Cleveland and chose the name to make it easy for Americans to pronounce his real name, Ettore Boiardi (October 22, 1897 – June 21, 1985).

Throughout my fascinating childhood, if you wanted spaghetti, you reached for a can opener. Then at the age of twenty-five, I moved to the wonder that is Europe, and friends introduced me to Northern Italian cuisine.  Oh, the wonder of calamari, mussels and clams in butter wine sauce, veal in a luscious mustard cream, baked cannelloni smothered in creamy goodness, and spaghetti Carbonara, Came as a great revelation to find Chef B was not the only chef in Italy, and all Italian food isn’t sloshed in tomato sauce.  Especially in Northern Italy, where cream sauce is the king. 

Other fav memories were the small outdoor courtyards, where pizzas were hand thrown and tossed into a wood fired oven until they had charred edges.

The point I’m making is I know Italian food.  Matter of fact, even though I have often said the French can teach anyone how to eat, I must make an exception for Italians. Those happy, hearty souls can lay some fine grits on the table.

But, I didn’t expect to find a jewel of Italian cuisine in North Charleston.  Nothing wrong with North Charleston, but South Carolina is BBQ and seafood country.

Fratello’s Italian Tavern is aptly named.  Take your lunch outside under an awning, while you munch some fresh Italian bread and sip an aperitif, or go inside and feel as if you just arrived in Italy.  I love the décor, featuring a long mahogany bar at the rear of the restaurant, oversized Italian posters, and dark cream-colored walls, edged with red brick.

I felt comfortable and I wanted to stay awhile.  No problem. The wait staff isn’t the least bit pushy. My companion and I ordered drinks and a dish of Bamberi to pass the time while we chatted and lingered over the delightful menu.

Wait until your waiter brings you some Prosecco and a bowl of Bamberi, sautéed shrimp in a white wine, garlic, lemon, and butter sauce!

I ordered Insalata Fratello, featuring roasted and grilled vegetables over baby greens, lashed with a light orange vinaigrette. My companion went with a Caesar Insalata with a house made dressing and loaded with tender strips of grilled chicken.  Don’t like those?  Pity.  But, being your friend, helpmate, and culinary advisor, I’ve included a link (below) to the full menu.

Insalada del Fratello

Didn’t go to Fratello’s Italian Tavern for supper, or cocktail hour, but lunch was so good, you wouldn't have to ask me twice.  Matter of fact, I’ll ask you.  Wanna go for a drink or two and some of the finest Italian food in the greater Charleston area?  Yep, thought you might say yes.  And don’t hold back.  Invite the whole gaggle of your so-called friends and we’ll make it a party.  No can openers required.

1050 E Montague Ave, North Charleston, SC 29405

Menu: http://fratellostavern.com/menu/

Blossom Restaurant, in Charleston South Carolina

Charleston Marina

Charleston has grown into one of the best gastronomic destinations on the east coast.  I know there are doubters, but I’m used to it.  Hey, I’m married!

People from Baltimore will bring up blue crabs.  New Yorkers will scream….New Yorkers seem to favor screaming…Hey, buddy, we got every-ting heah.  Miami citizens like to tell the world about Cuban cuisine.

Yes, I’m going to tell you a great place to eat, but first there’s a necessary digression.  You need to know the city you’re dealing with.  Otherwise you’re just going to crawl away imagining four walls with food on the table.  See part of the master plan is to erase ignorance and I’m starting with you!

 

Live Oaks at The Battery, White Point Garden

Gotta admit, there are some lackings in Charleston choices.  Mexican comes to mind.  But, what Charleston does offer that’s so much more attractive than a sandy day at the beach, is sumptuous atmosphere to go along with the freshest of seafood. Stroll around this stately old town for a bit and you’ll get in the spirit.  See the craggy, gray bearded oaks, huge black cannon and grand, stately homes along The Battery. 

Confederate Rodman Cannon

Rainbow Row of Porgy and Bess fame is nearby.  Look out across the rippling confluence of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers, that come together to form the Atlantic Ocean.  Yep, that’s Fort Sumter in the distance, awash in the ocean tides and tide of history.

Rainbow Row

You catching the drift? When you eat in Charleston you’re flooded by atmosphere you’ll find nowhere else.  The salt air.  The cobblestone streets.  The horse drawn carriages. The old vegetable market and the ladies weaving sweetgrass baskets.

These cobblestones date from the days of sailing ships and were used for ballast 

So when my close friend said we would meet with some of his rowdy companions for lunch at Blossom, my mouth watered.  Blossom is a fairly new establishment near the marketplace.  In Charleston, new means the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression), or the Revolutionary War do not need to be mentioned as you ease from the heat into air conditioned comfort.

Bright.  Sunny as outside, but cooler.  The whitewashed, exposed beam interior gives you a sense of having lunch in an elegant flower garden.  Ditto the white cloth napkins, sparkling silverware and glistening white china.  Yes, I am a secret snob.  Some would say not so secret. Maybe it’s more accurate to say I find solace in colors and design and attention to detail.

“Ok!” you impatient bastards are screaming, “What about the flapping food?”

  

The flapping food is extraordinarily delicious, with a wonderful presentation and service that makes lunch a celebration of hunger!  Seafood is the main attraction and the freshness is mouthwatering.  Yes, for non-seafooder swine there are other choices.  Just want to sip wine and nosh a salad?  You’ve come to the right place.  The Riesling St Urbans-hof, direct from the Mosel River was fruitily fantastic.  Of course, both my faithful readers already know I favor Mosel wines for breakfast, lunch, dinner, as well as for brushing my teeth.

I ordered some fried clams and calamari, just to warm up my taste buds and followed that with a cup of creamy She Crab Soup.  Polished those off just as my Crab Louie Salad arrived. A companion went with Caeser Salad and blacked chicken, while another one fussed over a juicy cheeseburger and the fourth got a wedge of fresh lettuce with a creamy dressing.  But see, these folks live here and need a break from indescribably luscious seafood once in awhile. I do not need that break. I eschew that break.  I SAY….no I don’t say that.  I’m too polite.

She Crab Soup, a Charleston Speciality

Crab Louie Salad

Blackened Chicken Breast on Caesar Salad

A wedge of iceburg

As our waiter brought the platters, conversation stopped. Yes, I wanted another glass of wine and I got it.  No need to wander through descriptions of every bite. The dishes were….Just check  out the photos!  Thousands of mouthwatering words written all over them!

Conversation?  Didn’t start up again until our very efficient waiter removed the plates and brought the bills.

Will I go back to Blossom?  Stupid question.  Make that INSANE question.  I will go back and I will bring along my ravenous appetite.  Companions are optional.  More Riesling is not.