Tuesday, April 11, 2006

last call for clam chowder

Warm weather is fast approaching, so I made what I'm guessing is the last batch of clam chowder until fall. Usually, I'm not so much of a stickler for ingredients, but they matter here. This recipe is my improvement on the Joy of Cooking's.

In a large soup pot, cook over medium heat until crisp:
4 or 5 strips of high-quality, thick bacon (Smithfield, for example)

Remove the bacon to cool, but leave the grease. In it, saute until translucent and soft:
One large yellow onion, chopped
Add 1/4 cup general purpose flour, stir for a minute.

To this mixture, add:
liquid from three 10-ounce cans whole baby clams (I use BumbleBee)
liquid from one 15-ounce (or whatever's close) can corn
about 1 teaspoon salt

um, don't forget to reserve the clams and corn!

To the onion-flour-clam/corn broth, add 5 medium-size Yukon potatoes, cut into medium dice (whatever size you like in your chowder).

Lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are just tender, then add 1 quart milk (I use whole milk or substitute 1 quart 1-percent plus 1/2 cup heavy cream).

Chop the bacon and add, along with the reserved corn and clams. Check to see if you've added enough salt, then heat through and serve, ideally with freshly ground black pepper.

and garlic bread!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

okay that's it, question #1 for the doctor today is...can I eat Clam Chowder!!!!!!? That sounds spectacular!!!! xoxoxxoxoxoxo