I don’t know what took so long, but we finally got around to trying our hand at making New England style chowder. We love clam chowder and almost always order at least a cup if it’s on the menu, but had never gotten around to making it before.
I’m pleased to say that our first attempt was met with great success and so I’ve written down the recipe so we can make it again!
Mike’s Clam Chowder
1/3 onion, chopped
3-4 slices bacon, fried
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, chopped
2-3 medium potatoes, cut into small cubes
8 oz clam juice
3-4 cups milk or 1/2 & 1/2
1 can clams, optionally cleaned
salt,pepper, thyme and marjoram to taste
Fry the onion until golden brown; may be fried with bacon if so inclined.
Place carrot, celery and potatoes in soup pan along with clam juice. Add water to cover and cook until potatoes have softened. By the way, this is one of the tricks to making good clam chowder; you can taste it when the potatoes have been cooked in clam water!
Add onions, bacon and cream to soup pan and heat thoroughly, taking care not to boil.
Overcooking the clams will toughen them, so they should be added shortly before serving and cooked for only a short time.