clam chowder stew

The next time that you open a can of clam chowder, do not just pour the contents into a saucepan, heat up the soup and then drink it.

Be innovative! Make the dish your own creation!

Whenever I open a can of clam chowder, I usually turn it into a stew. What this means is that I start out with a can of clam chowder but I use it merely as a base. What I would do is to add other ingredients to the clam chowder such as green capsicum, red capsicum, yellow capsicum, celery, chicken fillet, potato, carrots, green peas, chick peas and young corn. I would also add milk instead of water.

To thicken the stew, add grated mozarella cheese after the stew has boiled.

This stew goes very well with garlic bread. Instead of buying frozen garlic bread and heating it up in the oven, you may want to buy foccacia bread, slice it and spread garlic spread on it before you bake the garlic bread in a preheat oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.

Home cooking does not have to be a challenge nor a chore. It is all about being flexible and being innovative.

If you have not done much cooking in your life, you may want to start out slow using easy recipes that have been tried and tested by friends and relatives. You may also want to use little "aids" such as cooking the pasta sauce or stew in a slow cooker (crock pot) instead of using a pot and cooking it over a stove top.

The same applies for baking. When I first started baking in the mid 1980s, all my cakes would not rise. I reached a stage where I developed a phobia for baking cakes because every cake was doomed to failure. Later, I realised that it was all about patience, practice and picking up little tips from others. It also helped to obtain recipes from friends and loved ones who have tried and tested the recipes. Some of the recipes that you find in recipe books may require techniques and skills that you may not have developed yet.

If you are new at baking and cooking, do not lose heart. Practice makes perfect!