Clam Chowder

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This clam chowder was inspired by two things: my desire to make something that I normally don’t, and my parent’s recent trip exploring New England. While I would love to be tasting my way through New England and Canada like they are, I am not retired like they are, so clam chowder at home it was. We made this soup on a dreary, end-of-summer day at home, and everything about it was just so right. Let’s talk about it.

Clams
I was able to buy wild, USA caught cherrystone clams at my grocery store for this. You could use a variety of types of clams for this soup, but as I feel about all seafood – try to use wild, USA caught.

Veggies
If you are a fan of clam chowder, you know that this can really vary between versions. Some have very few or no veggies; some have potatoes and some don’t. This one is full of veggies – onions, carrots, garlic and celery – and lots of potatoes. This is my preference, but feel free to customize types and amounts of veggies in this to your liking.

Broth
The broth for this soup is made from boiling the clams. To prepare the broth, you add the clams to a pot, top them with water, bring to a boil and then boil until the clams open. You then remove the clams and strain the liquid – that’s your broth. I recommend straining several times because the broth can tend to be a bit sandy from the clams. I love that the broth for this soup is made from just water + clams. Also, this is a brothy clam chowder. There is no thickener in it, so it’s a thin and extremely flavorful broth – just how I like my clam chowder.

Flavors
This soup uses: clams, bacon, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, fresh thyme, white wine, a touch of milk, fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper. That’s it. If those flavors sound amazing to you, make this soup ASAP! 

This recipe is the epitome of end of summer, beginning of fall cooking and eating for me. Clam chowder always reminds me of summer vacation days, but is warm and comforting like fall. Since I can’t be wandering around New England right now, this was my best attempt at bringing end of summer, beginning of fall New England vibes to my home, and it worked just perfectly :).






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Clam Chowder

Ingredients

  • 24 medium to large clams (I used cherrystone)
  • 1/2 pound bacon
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 6 carrots, chopped
  • 6 celery stalks, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 12 baby potatoes, quartered
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 1 bunch fresh thyme
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • Salt
  • Pepper

Instructions

  1. Scrub clams well and place in a large pot. Cover the clams with water. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Boil 5-10 minutes, or until all clams have opened.

  2. Strain clam stock into a bowl and set aside (if the stock is sandy, you may want to re-strain). Remove clams from shells, roughly chop and set aside.

  3. Wipe out pot and add bacon, cooking over medium heat until done. Remove bacon from pot, crumble and set aside.

  4. Keeping pot over medium heat, add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, potatoes, wine and a few sprigs of fresh thyme to the bacon fat. Cook 5-10 minutes, until wine is almost evaporated.

  5. Add strained clam stock and a few more sprigs of fresh thyme to pot and simmer until vegetables are tender, 20-25 minutes.

  6. Turn off heat but keep pot on burner and add milk, bacon and clams to the pot and stir well. Remove thyme stems. Season with salt and pepper to taste. We used 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. 

  7. Serve in bowls garnished with fresh thyme if desired and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

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