Cooking Recipe Cockle Chowder
Recipe Ingredients
Directions
Take a large pan with a lid and put a little water in it to boil. When
boiling, toss in the cockles, clap the lid on and cook 5 mins or so,
shaking to cook the cockles evenly. When they have all opened, tip
into a colander over a bowl. Remove cockles forthwith from their
shells, and spread out to cool quickly. Strain the liquor carefully
to remove and sand.
Meanwhile parboil the potatoes for about 10 minutes, and in another
pan, melt the butter, let the bacon sizzle in it a moment or two, add
the finely chopped onion, put the lid on and sweat till the onion
becomes transparent. Add the milk, cockle liquor, potatoes and bring
to the boil. Turn down to a simmer and cook very gently till the
potatoes are soft but not a total mush. If you cook too quickly, or
the potatoes are not properly parcooked, the milk will curdle. It
isn't serious, just less attractive.
Chop the cockles roughly, add them to the soup, pepper it and add the
parsley. Taste for saltiness, (it shouldn't need any as the bacon and
cockles are both naturally salty.
Serve with ships biscuits, which you can break into the chowder. Water
biscuits or crackers will substitute.