This, too, would probably be better in winter

Nantucket. Never been there.

I made Nantucket scallop chowder last night. Delicious. Easy. Expensive. Are scallops cheap anywhere? I don't ordinarily love scallops -- for a sea creature, they are curiously rich and unctuous  and they make my teeth feel strange -- but in this chowder they were lovely. I might try making this was a more affordable fish, though I doubt it will be as good.

The recipe is adapted from American Cooking: New England. Their recipe calls for adding an additional spoonful of butter to each bowl when you serve the chowder, but the soup was already plenty buttery. Maybe when people harpooned whales for a living they needed the extra fat, but I sure don't.

5 tablespoons butter
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
1 quart whole milk
1 large boiling potato, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 pound sea scallops, cut into 1/4 inch slices across the grain

1. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in soup pot and saute the onions until soft but not colored. Add the milk, bring to a simmer, turn the heat to low and cook gently for 15 minutes. Watch carefully and adjust heat so the milk doesn't boil over. Strain the milk through a fine sieve and discard the onions. Return the milk to the pot.

2. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and cook the potatoes for 3-4 minutes until firm-tender. Drain.

3. In a skillet, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and saute the scallops for a couple of minutes, until almost cooked through.

4. Add the potato and scallops the the milk broth and heat. Taste for seasoning. It will need just a little salt. Serves 6.

This morning Owen pulled out the Tupperware of leftover chowder thinking it was waffle batter. The waffle iron was heated and we were about 30 seconds from disaster when I caught him.