into 1 ⁄ 2 -inch cubes
2 tablespoons butter
3 ⁄ 4 cup chopped onion
3 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (6 1 ⁄ 2 -ounce) can minced clams, with juice
1 ⁄ 4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half
2 cups cooked wild rice
Instructions
1. Bring the broth, lemon juice, and bay leaves to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the potatoes, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, add the onion, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes; do not brown. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
3. Add the onion mixture to the broth in the pot, and then add the clams, clam juice, and pepper. Heat through.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with 1 ⁄ 2 cup of the half-and-half to make a smooth paste. Slowly add the flour mixture to the chowder, whisking to avoid lumps.
5. Add the remaining 1 ⁄ 2 cup half-and-half and the rice. Heat to piping hot and serve immediately.
Make ahead? Cook the wild rice. Complete the recipe through step 3. Refrigerate, reheat, and complete the recipe.
For large crowds: This is a wonderful soup to expand, for the primary ingredients — canned clams and wild rice — are relatively inexpensive and easy to find year-round.
Profile
Albertina’s Restaurant
Portland, Oregon
In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, there is a most unusual luncheon restaurant. Housed in a beautiful historic building, it is operated almost entirely by volunteers (the only paid employees are the chef and the dishwasher). Also sharing that building are a thrift shop, gift shop, and a wonderful antiques shop.
All the proceeds from the shops and the restaurant — even the servers’ tips — go to support a nonprofit organization (Albertina Kerr Centers) that provides critical services for children, adults, and families with mental health challenges and developmental disabilities.
I was one of the volunteer cooks for about 15 years, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Everything about cooking for 100 people — the process, the equipment, the tools, the careful management of sequencing — was endlessly fascinating, and I learned a great deal about food safety and presentation. Most of all, I learned about life from the other women on my crew. They were all considerably older than me, but full of zest and sass, and taught me a lot about living a good life at that age. I’ll never forget them. (Mary Steerman, my surrogate mother, I miss you every single day.)
The wonderful volunteers who cook and serve lunches are supported by many other volunteers behind the scenes. One critical group creates, tests, tweaks, and retests the recipes, paying particular attention to dishes that are suited to the kitchen’s very limited space.
Over the years many of the favorites have been collected into three cookbooks; the first two are out of print, but the most recent, Albertina’s Exceptional Recipes , is now in its fifth printing. You can find it from several online booksellers, or order direct from the restaurant (so they get all the profits). Contact [email protected] for current pricing. The wonderful Albertina’s recipes in this book, the one you are holding, are some of my personal favorites from Exceptional Recipes , reprinted with the board’s kind permission.
And if you ever find yourself in Portland, try to have lunch at Albertina’s; while you’re there ask your server to tell you about Albertina herself. It’s quite a story.
Albertina’s Restaurant
424 NE 22nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
503-231-0216
www.albertinakerr.org
(reservations optional)
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice Soup
Recipe from Julie Dahlberg , Grayslake, Illinois
Serves 8–10
Julie says: I usually make a large batch, because this is so popular at Soup Nights. If there’s any left
2 tablespoons butter
3 ⁄ 4 cup chopped onion
3 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 (6 1 ⁄ 2 -ounce) can minced clams, with juice
1 ⁄ 4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup half-and-half
2 cups cooked wild rice
Instructions
1. Bring the broth, lemon juice, and bay leaves to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the potatoes, then reduce the heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaves.
2. While the potatoes are cooking, melt the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat, add the onion, and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes; do not brown. Add the mushrooms and sauté until tender, 5 to 10 minutes longer.
3. Add the onion mixture to the broth in the pot, and then add the clams, clam juice, and pepper. Heat through.
4. In a small bowl, whisk the flour with 1 ⁄ 2 cup of the half-and-half to make a smooth paste. Slowly add the flour mixture to the chowder, whisking to avoid lumps.
5. Add the remaining 1 ⁄ 2 cup half-and-half and the rice. Heat to piping hot and serve immediately.
Make ahead? Cook the wild rice. Complete the recipe through step 3. Refrigerate, reheat, and complete the recipe.
For large crowds: This is a wonderful soup to expand, for the primary ingredients — canned clams and wild rice — are relatively inexpensive and easy to find year-round.
Profile
Albertina’s Restaurant
Portland, Oregon
In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, there is a most unusual luncheon restaurant. Housed in a beautiful historic building, it is operated almost entirely by volunteers (the only paid employees are the chef and the dishwasher). Also sharing that building are a thrift shop, gift shop, and a wonderful antiques shop.
All the proceeds from the shops and the restaurant — even the servers’ tips — go to support a nonprofit organization (Albertina Kerr Centers) that provides critical services for children, adults, and families with mental health challenges and developmental disabilities.
I was one of the volunteer cooks for about 15 years, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Everything about cooking for 100 people — the process, the equipment, the tools, the careful management of sequencing — was endlessly fascinating, and I learned a great deal about food safety and presentation. Most of all, I learned about life from the other women on my crew. They were all considerably older than me, but full of zest and sass, and taught me a lot about living a good life at that age. I’ll never forget them. (Mary Steerman, my surrogate mother, I miss you every single day.)
The wonderful volunteers who cook and serve lunches are supported by many other volunteers behind the scenes. One critical group creates, tests, tweaks, and retests the recipes, paying particular attention to dishes that are suited to the kitchen’s very limited space.
Over the years many of the favorites have been collected into three cookbooks; the first two are out of print, but the most recent, Albertina’s Exceptional Recipes , is now in its fifth printing. You can find it from several online booksellers, or order direct from the restaurant (so they get all the profits). Contact [email protected] for current pricing. The wonderful Albertina’s recipes in this book, the one you are holding, are some of my personal favorites from Exceptional Recipes , reprinted with the board’s kind permission.
And if you ever find yourself in Portland, try to have lunch at Albertina’s; while you’re there ask your server to tell you about Albertina herself. It’s quite a story.
Albertina’s Restaurant
424 NE 22nd Avenue
Portland, OR 97232
503-231-0216
www.albertinakerr.org
(reservations optional)
Creamy Chicken with Wild Rice Soup
Recipe from Julie Dahlberg , Grayslake, Illinois
Serves 8–10
Julie says: I usually make a large batch, because this is so popular at Soup Nights. If there’s any left
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