When our new friend Matt wrote me an email, wondering what to bring to our upcoming gathering, he offered this: “Moules marniere, or a few whole fish stuffed with herbs and thrown on the grill. Or there’s this.”
If you didn’t click on the link above yet, or are wondering what is in that bowl up there, let me tell you. Clam chowder with pork belly. That’s right. Pork belly.
Now, I must have been sleep deprived when I first wrote back to Matt, because I said the chowder sounded a little heavy for the day. (It’s near 90 in Seattle, and us poor rain-drenched saps just don’t know how to take the heat.) Right, he seemed to say. I’ll switch gears.
However, when Danny returned home, I told him about this exchange, and that I said we might pass on the chowder.
He looked at me and said: “Yeah, pretty much you’re crazy.”
So I wrote back to Matt and said, we’d love to have the chowder, if you wouldn’t mind making it.
Oh boy, was Danny right.
Like me, it turns out that Matt prefers a lighter chowder, especially in the summer. (You see, I was thinking about an overly creamy chowder, thick enough to sit a spoon in it, sure to make for clogged noses later.) In fact, this chowder has no creams. The local manila clams were sweet and tender to the tooth. The shallots, white wine, and fresh herbs were wonderfully balanced. And Matt had cooked it all just perfectly: timed to the moment to fill us with simple pleasure.
However, the best part, the most unexpected part, the part we will be repeating again — the pork belly.
As Matt wrote himself: “Then it hit me. Pork belly! Heck, most clam chowders have bacon in it, so this isn’t exactly a stretch, and could add a new dimension to the dish. How about decent sized cubes of slow braised then roasted pork belly? Ohhhh, this is sounding like my kind of soup.”
Danny has decided that Matt is his kind of friend. For many reasons, really, but the pork belly in the clam chowder tipped him over the edge.
Yum.
(If you would like to make this chowder yourself, take a look at Matt’s recipe on his website WrightFood. It’s well worth your read.)
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Oh, yeah. I saw that recipe on his site and thought immediately:”I have to make that chowder!” Daughter read it and said, “Mama, you’ve got to make that chowder!”
I will, I will! I looks and sounds divine!!