This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
07/13/2017 12:01 AMThe recent Independence Day holiday was a beach day as glorious as any I can remember. Around the same time, there were two beach stories in my local daily newspaper, The Day: On the front page was a story about the Miami Beach Association fencing in Old Lyme to stop a “significant increase in the inappropriate behavior of persons using the beach.” The second story, first page of the second section, was a feature saying that Groton’s Eastern Point Beach concession stand “still serving up favorites.”
My beach used to be Old Lyme. You needed a beach pass and there were very few parking places, but it wasn’t fenced. Today, I enjoy the beach in Groton. As a city of Groton citizen, and an old woman, too, it costs $11 for the season. The beach is gorgeous and huge. And on the recent, sunny Fourth of July, as I left the beach to go home to write this column, there were still dozens more parking places available, and the $1.75 foot-long hot dog is as good as it ever was, as long as a gull doesn’t get to it first.
Summer doesn’t get much better than that. And fresh tomatoes and sweet corn are still to come. I still have packets of the latter in the freezer. I may use it for a corn chowder. I recently bought some lobster to go with it. This is a summer soup that can stand on its own. One of the best things about this recipe is there is no butter or heavy cream. Sure, some salt pork can be used for flavoring, but still, this is pretty healthy.
Lee White has been a food editor and restaurant reviewer for more than 25 years. You can email her at leeawhite@aol.com.
Corn Chowder
Adapted a lot from a 1964 edition of Joy of Cooking
Yield: serves 6 to 8 as a main dish with a salad and maybe some good bread
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 to 8 ounces salt pork, diced
½ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 ½ cups peeled diced raw potatoes (with Yukon Gold, you needn’t peel)
2 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
6 to 8 ears of fresh corn, blanched for 2 minutes in boiling water, then drained in iced water
meat from claws and tail of 1 ½-lb to 2-pound cooked lobster, cut into small chunks
3 cups hot milk
chopped fresh tarragon, and more for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
Pour oil into a heated heavy-bottomed stock pot, add salt pork, and sauté until browned. Add onions, celery, and green pepper and sauté until translucent. Add potatoes, water, salt, paprika, and bay leaf and simmer until potatoes are soft, around 15 minutes. Add flour and 1 cup of milk; stir until mixture is thick. Remove corn from cobs, and add corn kernels. Add lobster meat and heat through. When ready to serve, add the three cups of hot milk, and chopped fresh tarragon. If you are not serving immediately, this can be refrigerated and reheated gently when ready to serve.