Jane's Clam Chowder and other Recipes

Jane's Award-Winning Clam Chowder

If you know Jane from Out of the Depths, you will know that she isn’t much of one for writing down recipes. This is her best attempt. Be as generous or sparing with the ingredients as you wish—make it to your taste!

Ingredients with Instructions for Clam Chowder

Bacon, plenty! Cook, crumble and set aside. Pour 1-2 Tbsp bacon grease in large soup pot.
Diced onion, diced celery, thinly grated carrot. Cook in bacon grease until translucent.
Yukon gold potatoes and/or baby red potatoes. Both are lovely for color! Cut into chunks and throw in pot with vegetables.
Minced garlic, sage, thyme and bay leaves. Salt & pepper. Add to soup pot.
Chicken stock. Pour over potatoes and veg and simmer until soft.
1-2 Cups half & half. Add to pot.
Add clams with juice to pot and simmer for five-ish minutes.
2 Cups sour cream mixed with ¼ C flour. Add to simmering soup and fold this in to thicken.
Adjust seasonings to suit.
Top with bacon, minced chives or parsley, and a dash of smoked paprika.
Savor!!

Potato Chowder

Follow above instructions, replacing the clams with corn. Easy as that!

Apology Cake

aka Chocolate Ganache Cake

In Out of the Depths, Jane messed up big-time with her neighbor Beverly, and thought she would make her a chocolate ganache cake to help mend the friendship. Did it work, you ask? You'll have to read the book to find out, but I can tell you that if there was any recipe that could melt a heart, it's this one. As a bonus, it's super easy and quick to make! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

One box mix of devil's food cake (alternatively, you can make your own cake.)
8 oz semi-sweet baking bars, finely chopped, or 1 1/3 cups chocolate chips.
1 cup heavy whipping cream
Knee pads, optional

Instructions

Bake cake according to box instructions.

While cake is cooking, make your ganache...

In a small saucepan, bring the heavy whipping cream just to a simmer on the stovetop, stirring occasionally. You should see small bubbles forming along the edges. Just as soon as you see a simmer, immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips.
Place a lid or plastic wrap on the bowl to trap the heat. Let it sit without mixing for 5 minutes, then remove the lid and stir in the chocolate chips. Start in the center and work outward until the mixture is smooth.
Let the ganache sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Once cake is cool enough to handle, tear it up into chunks and place in your mixing bowl.
Add in about 2/3 of the ganache, and using a kitchen aid or hand-held mixer, mix ganache with cake chunks until smooth.
Pour into a spring-form pan.
Let chill until ready to serve (at least one hour.) Place cake on a plate and pour extra ganache over the top. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Serve yourself some humble pie! Get on your knees and apologize. This step might best be done after the cake is consumed.