HAVING just come home from New Hampshire in the States with my brand new waffle machine, delicious maple syrup and 'canned' clams in tow, I am inspired to try out some classic American recipes.

Chowder is a big thing in New England, and in many of the ski-slope cafés, is the only thing to eat if you don't want pizza, hot dogs or chilli and nachos.

Admittedly, this time last week I thought I would never be able to look at another bowl of chowder again, but now as the holiday is seeming more like a distant memory and my snowboarding bruises have almost disappeared, I am keen to reacquaint myself with this comforting meal-in-a-bowl.

Chowder was originally invented by French fishermen who traditionally threw whatever bits of fish, shellfish and vegetables were on hand into a big communal pot, but it has now become a firm fixture on menus all across North America. In New England, their chowder is thick and creamy, whereas the classic Manhattan Chowder has no milk or cream, but tomatoes.

For the non carbsphobic, many places have Clam Chowder 'in a boule' which means that the chowder is served in a small scooped-out round loaf of crusty bread, which not only serves as a bowl but is delicious to eat with your soup.

The Americans often use tinned clams for a clam chowder, and it is now easier to buy these good quality 'canned' clams here - check out food shops and delis.

If you want to cook fresh clams, just put whole scrubbed clams in their shells in a saucepan with just a couple of H tablespoons of water (discard any that are not tightly shut, even when you give them a tap), cover with a lid and place on a low to medium heat until all the clams are wide open.

Remove the clams from the shells, discard the shells, and keep the clams in the cooking juice. They can be frozen like this, or used straightaway for a chowder.

Take some of this clam 'juice' (or the juice from the tin of clams) and add it to tomato juice to make clamato juice, and you now have the famous North American drink, Bloody Caesar - the perfect weekend brunch-time pickme-up!

New England clam chowder Serves 2 This recipe is inspired by a recipe in Hometown Cooking in New England (see book of the week).

Many American recipes use volume rather than weight as a measure, so in this recipe for a 'cup' use a tea cup, or if you want to be very precise, 8fl oz in a measuring jug.

A splash of olive oil Half a cup of chopped onions 100g bacon, diced One-two tbsp flour (depending on how thick you like it) Two cups of clams in their juice - tinned (2 x 200g tins) or fresh (see above for details on how to cook if fresh) One cup of water Three medium potatoes, peeled and diced Salt and pepper 21/2 cups of milk Quarter to half a cup of cream Put the chopped onions and bacon in a saucepan (large enough for the chowder) with just a splash of olive oil and sauté until the onions are golden and the bacon is crisp.

Add the flour, stir and cook for half a minute.

Drain the clams, reserving the juice. Put the reserved juice, water and potatoes in the saucepan with the cooked onions and bacon, season with salt and pepper, and boil until the potatoes are just barely soft.

Add the drained clams, milk and cream and simmer for a couple more minutes. Season to taste, and serve.

Manhattan clam chowder Serves 2 This is a light, tomatobased chowder, which is also delicious and very versatile as it is wonderful with a selection of shellfish. Again, this recipe uses cups for measurements.

A splash of olive oil Half a cup of chopped onions 100g bacon, diced Two cups of clams in their juice - tinned (2 x 200g tins) or fresh (see above for details on how to cook if fresh) One cup of water Two cups of diced, peeled potatoes Half a cup of diced celery Salt and pepper 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes Two tsp chopped parsley One small tsp chopped thyme Put the chopped onions and bacon in a saucepan (large enough for the chowder) with just a splash of olive oil and sauté until the onions are golden and the bacon is crisp.

Drain the clams, reserving the juice. Put the reserved juice, water, potatoes and celery in the saucepan with the cooked onions and bacon, season with salt and pepper, and boil until the potatoes are just barely soft.

Add the drained clams, tinned tomatoes, chopped herbs and a pinch of sugar, then simmer for four or five minutes. Season to taste, and serve.

Chunky smoked haddock chowder Serves 6 This recipe is from my second book, Rachel's Favourite Food For Friends, published by Gill and MacMillan. This is such a good comforting, warming soup, and it is really quite quick to make. Feel free to replace some of the smoked haddock with unsmoked fish if you like, and mussels and prawns are good in this too.

This can be reheated, but if you want the smoked haddock to stay in nice chunks, don't boil it too vigorously and don't stir it too much.

25g butter One small onion, sliced 225g sliced leeks (two smallish leeks) Salt and pepper 250g potatoes, cut into 1cm dice 400ml vegetable or light chicken stock 400ml milk 400g smoked haddock (one medium fillet) - preferably undyed, cut into 2cm chunks 25ml cream - optional Two tbsp chopped parsley In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the onions and leeks, season with salt and pepper, and sweat over a gentle heat until soft but not coloured - about 10 minutes.

Add the potatoes, stock and milk, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are just cooked.

Add the smoked haddock and continue for two or three minutes until the fish is just cooked.

Season again if necessary. Stir in the cream (if using) and chopped parsley, and serve.

Sweetcorn chowder Serves 2 This is a gorgous veggie chowder full of colour.It comes from the Avoca people and appears in their second cookbook 'Avoca Cafe Cookbook 2'. In the recipe they suggest grilling the corn for the best flavour, but you can also steam or boil it.

1 red pepper 2 sweetcorn cobs 1 onion, finely chopped 50g butter 1 tbsp flour 300ml milk 200ml vegetable stock 1 cinnamon stick (optional) 4 cloves pinch of saffron stamens 1 tbsp each roughly chopped basil, coriander and mint, to serve Grill the red pepper until well blackened. Transfer to a bowl and cover with cling film. Leave for 10 minutes and uncover. As soon as it is cool enough t o handle, core, remove the skin and seeds, and roughly chop.

Cook the corn on a griddle plate until lightly charred.

Scrape the kernels from the cobs using a sharp knife.

Gently sauté the onion in the butter for 10-15 minutes without allowing it to colour. Add the corn and continue cooking for a further five minutes.

Add the flour, cook for two minutes without allowing to colour and pour in the milk and stock.

Add the cinnamon stick, cloves and saffron, season with salt and pepper and continue cooking for a further 25-30 minutes.

Remove the cinnamon and cloves, and discard.

Purée half the soup and combine with the unpuréed soup and the grilled peppers. Heat through and check the seasoning.

Serve with a generous sprinkling of the herbs.

BOOK OF THE WEEK Hometown Cooking in New England: The Very Best Recipes from Community Cookbooks, by Sandra Taylor and Paul Hoffman, published by Down East Books. I bought this book while on holidays and it has got all the best classic American recipes, from a great selection of chowders to buttermilk pancakes, waffles to hot cranberry punch. It can be bought on www. amazon. co. uk.