Inland un-clam chowder.

What is inland un-clam chowder you ask? Well that is what you make when you live in a land locked area, and only eat what you grow and have in your pantry (and don't eat seafood anyway). So for a mock version on the New England style, here it goes.

 In a stock pot combine
2 TB of oil or butter
1 onion or leek chopped
1 celery stalk chopped (I used frozen celery tops from this years harvest)
saute for 5 minutes. Then add
2 large or 4 small potatoes diced
4 cups of stock
optional 1 piece of seaweed- I had some wakame left from a trip I made to Maine a few years ago when I went to visit Scott and Helen Nearing's  Homestead. There is a small company there that harvests seaweed. You can also use kombu
1 bay leaf.
Cook until all vegetables are soft and remove the seaweed and bay leaf.

 Saute about a cup of mushrooms in a pan. I used the foraged Hen of the Woods mushroom that I froze in the fall. Cook the mushrooms until they release the water, yet still remain soft.

 Add to the stock pot salt to taste and 1/2 tsp Old Bay seasoning. I did not have any Old Bay, so I tried to duplicate it with the spices I had on hand. I was missing a few spices so it did not turn out all that old Bay like. Win some, lose some. It all eats the same.

 Take about two cups of the vegetable soup mixture and puree with 1 cup of milk of your choice (dairy, plain soy, rice, etc). Add back to the pot. Add the sauteed mushrooms to the pot and stir. The soup is ready.

 I didn't have the foresight to make sourdough bowls to serve this in so I made a quick batch of sourdough bannock  . A perfect cold weather meal, even if you don't live anywhere near the ocean.