I drove out of town this weekend to a fairly new Asian supermarket center. As I was exploring the store I came across “fresh” clam meat. I was thrilled!!! They were packaged like cut meat at your local butcher shop. I bought a package that weighed 0.85 lbs. I’ve never made clam chowder before and have been putting it off due to the thought of canned clam meat... :(
I gathered up a few recipes and created this one.
First step is to fry the bacon in a 7qt pot. I fry my bacon on low for about 20minutes.
Remove the bacon and put on a plate with a paper towel to soak up the excess bacon fat.
Saute the chopped up sweet onions and celery (about a cup each) in the bacon drippings in the pot. (I also added dashes of granulated garlic powder and cayenne pepper for extra goodness...)
Saute until onions and celery are tender. Then add 2 cups diced red potatoes and 3 bottles (8oz) clam juice. Cover for about 15-20 minutes on medium; until potatoes are tender. Stir once every 5 minutes.
In a small pot, melt 3/4 cup butter on low.
After the butter all melts, whisk in 3/4 cup flour.
Whisk flour and butter until smooth. Next add in 4 cups of half & half cream. Stir well. Added 2 tsp of salt. Stir well until you've reached a thick consistency. Then add cream mixture to the veggie and clam juice pot that has been boiling.
Add in parsley flakes (preferrably fresh & chopped) and fresh ground pepper. Simmer on low.
Then I rinsed the clams with cold water and cut them in half. I love lots of clams in my chowder!!!
Stir them into the pot and cook for 5-7minutes. The longer you cook them the tougher the clam meat. Do not let the pot boil.
My bowl of chowder....
Next time I will add 2tsp of red wine vingear at the end. Also, I will be making rustic bread bowls for this hearty soup!!! MMMmmm
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