Lovage Clam Chowder with a Potato Crab Cake, Pickled Cucumbers and Lovage Chips   

Ingredients :
2	tbl	butter
1	cup	chopped onion
2	x	cloves chopped garlic
1	cup	vermouth
2	cup	cream
1	cup	grated potato
1	cup	crab, broth or 1 cup clam juice, lovage
1	cup	lovage leaf
1	cup	chopped green onion, (green part only)
1	cup	clam
		salt, to taste
		pepper, to taste
		The Potato Crab Cakes
1	lb	potato, peeled, and, quartered
1	cup	crab, meat
1/4	cup	minced chives
1	x	egg
		flour, for breading
		egg, for breading
		dried potato flakes, for breading
		The Pickled Cucumbers
1	x	lemon, juiced, and, zested
		bottle extra virgin olive oil
1	tbl	grain mustard
1/4	cup	capers
1/4	cup	minced red onion
1	cup	julienned cucumber
		salt, to taste
		pepper, to taste
		The Lovage Chips
1	x	5 oz potato, baked, and, scooped
1	tbl	butter
2	x	egg, whites
1	tbl	flour
1	tbl	chopped lovage

How to cook :

Sweat the onions in garlic in the butter.
Place them in a thick bottomed sauce pot over a medium heat stirring until they are fully aromatized.
Add the vermouth, cream, potato and crab broth.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook just long enough to soften the potatoes, about twenty minutes.
Add the lovage and green onion to a blender.
Pour the soup base on top of the herbs then blend until very smooth.
Strain the soup into a clean sauce pot and reserve.
When you are ready to serve add the clams and gently reheat the soup.
Taste it and adjust the seasoning.
Serve it immediately.
If you make the soup in advance and store it much of its green color will be lost.
The Potato Crab Cakes:Steam the potatoes until tender then pass them through a food mill onto a baking sheet.
Spread them evenly on the sheet.
Dry the potatoes in a 350-degree oven for ten minutes.
In a bowl whisk the egg then add the dried potatoes, crab and chives.
Season with salt and pepper.
Combine the ingredients gently until they are well mixed.
Form four evenly shaped cylindrical crab cakes.
Press them firmly together as you form them.
Bread the crab cakes by first rolling them in flour then dipping them in egg wash and finally rolling them in potato flakes.
The cakes may be made to this point and refrigerated, several hours in advance.
Brown the cakes in butter until evenly colored then continue heating them through in a 400 degree oven for ten minutes.
Serve immediately.The Pickled Cucumbers:Mix together the lemon, oil, mustard, capers and red onions until well combined.
Add the cucumber and toss well to combine.
Taste the mixture and season to taste.
Let the pickles rest for several hours before serving.
The Lovage Chips:Combine all the ingredients in a mixer or food processor until a smooth batter forms.
Fashion a triangle template out of a plastic lid or milk container.
Use a sharp edged knife to cut out a 4-inch triangle.
Using the template spread the dough evenly on a lightly oiled non-stick baking surface.
Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, about ten minutes.
The chips will brown unevenly, turn the pan a few times during baking.
Remove any chips that are done before their mates.
Serve immediately or keep for several days in a small airtight container.
The Plate!:Ladle four ounces of the just reheated chowder into a hot service bowl.
Add a crisp potato cake to the center of the bowl.
Top the cake with a spoonful of the pickled cucumber.
Insert two of the lovage chips, point down, into the cucumber and garnish with a lovage sprig.
Serve with a swoop!.

Tags : Seafood Tubers Root Vegetable

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