Soup

Put potatoes and carrots together in a small saucepan, add salt and water. Cover and cook gently until tender. Remove from heat, but do not drain. Meanwhile, saute onion in butter for 3 minutes. Blend in the flour until smooth and add milk gradually, stirring over medium heat until the mixture boils and thickens. Discard skin from salmon, crush the bones, and flake the fish. Combine fish, crushed bones, and cooked vegetables and their liquid with the thickented milk sauce. Add remaining ingredients. Heat thoroughly and serve at once.

Alternately: use fresh broiled salmon. De-bone, flake, and put into the chowder. Add corn, which will add some sweetness.

Immerse the carrots, potatoes and onion in the juice from the canned clams--this should come out to around 4 cups of liquid. If it's less, supplement with a little water. Add a bay leaf and the salt, and gently boil until the potatoes and carrots are tender. Remove the bay leaf when done.

Meanwhile, chop the bacon into very small bits, and fry over medium heat. You're looking to get the fat out of the bacon, but you'll be keeping this.

Once the bacon is nice and crisp, melt all of the butter with the bacon fat. Once the butter is melted, put in the flour and the pepper. Stir until you have a nice roux, and cook for a minute or three. Add the milk in about a cup at a time; stir and heat until it's boiling, then add the next cup. When you have a nice, hot, thick cream sauce, combine with the vegetables and liquid. (Be sure to remove the bay leaf.) Add all remaining ingredients, and heat through. Serve immediately. Sourdough is nice. I use saltines.

1. Cut the squash into large pieces. Using a sharp knife, carefully remove the skin.
2. Scoop out and discard the seeds. CHop the squash into small chunks. Remove all the fat from the bacon and roughly chop it into small pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a large saucepan. add the onions and garlic and cook for 3 minutes or until they begin to become soft.
4. Add the bacon and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir in the spices and cook over low heat for a minute longer.
5. Add the chopped squash, potatoes and stock. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes and squash are tender.
6. Blend the cornstarch with 2 tbs water and add to the soup with the sour cream. Bring to a boil and simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and add hot-pepper sauce to taste.
7. ladle the soup into warm bowls and sprinkle the cheese on top. Serve with crusty bread to scooup up the melted cheese!

I think this soup should've been slightly thicker, and definitely don't skip the 'trim fat' step of the bacon. I'd say 3 good pinches of salt was about right, and pepper can go right on top when serving.