Potatoes are such a versatile food. Think of all the ways they can be prepared: boiled, fried, baked, and in salads. In fact, it is the latter – cold (as potato salad) – that potatoes are usually served in the summer. Ready to mix things up a bit? Try this warm potato salad. The bacon infuses the dish with flavor and the vinegar adds the right amount of tang. And since mayonnaise isn’t part of this recipe, there’s less worry about spoilage. I enjoy this warm potato salad so much that I serve it year round. (It goes especially well with ham.)
 
Ingredients
 
4 medium-sized boiling potatoes, peeled
6 slices of bacon
Approximately ½ cup of cooking oil
1 smallish onion, chopped fin
3 Tablespoons red-wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
 

1. Boil the potatoes until soft. Drain, cut into large chunks, and place in deep bowl
2. While the potatoes are boiling, fry the bacon until crisp. Place on brown paper bag (or paper towel)
3. Add oil to bacon fat (for a healthier version, remove bacon fat from the frying pan and replace with all oil) so that there is enough to cover the bottom of the pan – enough to sauté the onion in
   Cook onion until soft
4. Add vinegar and bring to boil, about 1 minute

Pour vinegar, oil and onions over potatoes and toss. Add bacon and salt and pepper to taste

Soup in summer? Certainly, if it’s Manhattan Clam Chowder!  While some soups, like split pea and butternut squash, are more suited as winter comfort foods, clam chowder is light, and its fresh-from-the-sea taste is a great compliment to other summer seafood fare.
 
As is the case with many of my recipes, this one for Manhattan Clam Chowder is a compilation of many others. It works great as a first course or as a meal in itself. You can adjust the clam taste by adding more or less bottled clam juice. Makes 6 servings
 
Ingredients
 
3-4 strips of bacon
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 8-oz. cans or 1 pt.shucked and chopped fresh clams
2 celery stalks, diced
3 small potatoes, diced
2-4 8-oz bottles of clam juice
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 16-oz can of tomato sauce
 

1. In a large soup pot or a Dutch oven, fry the bacon until most of the fat has been rendered, but the bacon itself is still soft. Add onion to the pan and sauté in the bacon drippings until onion is soft. Remove all but 1 teaspoon of bacon drippings.
2. Add clam liquid (including liquid from cans of clams), celery, and potatoes to the pot of bacon and onions. Bring to a boil and reduce heat. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
3. Stir in clams, parsley, thyme, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil with an occasional stir.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.