first and last cooking of the summer

I've been pretty routine in my eating this summer. Sticking to a few standards has made grocery shopping really easy but it hasn't made for a lot of variety. (Ask CH: "Uh, I can offer you a salad with, uh, shrimp and tomato and avocado, or, uh, a sandwich with cheese and tomato and avocado. Oh! Or berries and yogurt!")

So I decided to commemorate the honorary end of summer with making a meal that not only required creative shopping, but also required cooking two foods I've never cooked before. And, uh, it was totally worth it.
I started with this recipe for Corn, Bacon and Clam Stew. Out of the usual necessity, I replaced the bacon with turkey bacon. And since I failed to check whether I had bourbon, I had to find a replacement for the bourbon, too. (I know: I was also shocked. I didn't even think to check, but, after digging through every cabinet in my kitchen, I remembered that the last time I was in the wine store I thought, 'Oh, I need bourbon,' and then managed to forget to buy any. I plan on remedying this as soon as the blue laws will let me.) For half of the recipe, I substituted some old Pumpkin Ale and, for half, I substituted Vermouth. I think the Vermouth was actually more successful, although both were fine.

I've never cooked turkey bacon or clams before and I was surprised at how easy the clams were to cook. (Turkey bacon is another story. It took forever and made a huge mess.) The other big surprise was how much the basil added to the stew. Honestly, I tend to think that basil is superfluous in most recipes and I expected to think the same of this. (Read those ingredients and tell me that you think the basil sounds like it fits.) But it really added brightness to the stew so I was completely won over.

Of course, being me, I doubled the recipe since it looked like it would be a pain to make. So I've got plenty of leftovers to see how well this reheats. Depending on how much I enjoy it through the week, I may try to make it again before all the summer corn is gone. I think it's plausible that it could be made without the turkey bacon, or at least with a lot less, and I feel pretty confident that I could substitute shrimp or white fish for the clams. If I actually end up doing so, I'll let you know how it goes.

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