Brambly Thicket's New England Clam Chowder

Prep Time:

30 minutes

Cook Time Time:

40 minutes

Total Time:

70 minutes

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About Our Brambly Thicket's New England Clam Chowder Recipe

As with most of my recipes, this soup has a lot of meat, in this case, CLAMS! It's very hardy, especially on a cold night! Serve with Oyster crackers and a simple green salad for a light supper option. It's awesome for lunch too!

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Ingredients

• 4 10oz cans whole baby clams

• 2 6.5 oz cans minced clams

• 2 8oz bottles clam juice

• 2 boxes fully cooked bacon (about 28-32 slices)

• 1/2 cup diced carrots (I use shredded carrots, they dice so easily)

• 1/2 cup diced onion

• 3 stalks celery, diced

• 3 small red potatoes, diced (about 3 cups)

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon pepper

• 1 1/2 cups 2% milk

• 1/2 cup flour

• 1 cup half and half

• 3 sprigs parsley, finely chopped (optional/for garnish)

• Oyster crackers

  
  

Recipe Notes

• Serves 10

• Accompaniments: Oyster crackers, mixed greens salad

• Cooking supplies: Large Dutch oven, cutting board, large knife, large colander, one large bowl and one small bowl, pepper mill

• Leftover Ideas:

  Store in individual soup-sized freezer/microwave safe bowls and freeze to enjoy later. Just thaw and microwave to reheat. Sometimes I will buy extra boxes of bacon to make for the leftover soup (everyone eats all the bacon at dinner time)!

• Clean Up Notes:

  -Add onion and garlic peels to a separate plastic grocery bag. Rinse the empty clam cans and add to the bag-throw the bag out in the garbage cans, not in the kitchen garbage can.

  -Clean the sink that you drained the clams in using a bleach-based cleaner before preparing other food in the sink. Allow the bleach to sit for 5 minutes, then rinse and wipe with a paper towel.

  
  
  
  
  
  

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Instructions

1. Put all of the bacon in the dutch oven and cook on medium heat until crispy. Turn bacon frequently and watch it closely so it doesn't burn (fully cooked bacon cooks faster than raw bacon). Put crispy bacon on a paper plate lined with paper towel.

2. Dice onion, celery, carrots and garlic. Add to the dutch oven along with 1 Tablespoon of olive oil (leave bacon grease in the pan for flavor). Sauté for five minutes on medium heat.

3. While the onion/celery/carrot/garlic mixture is sautéing, place a large colander over a large bowl and pour the whole and mixed clams into the colander, so the juice goes into the bowl. (Do not discard the juice—you will need it for the soup).

4. Set aside the colander of clams on a dish to collect any remaining juice.

5. Pour all of the clam juice into the dutch oven, along with the 2 bottles of clam juice.

6. Add the potato, bay leaf and pepper and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down heat to simmer and cover. Cook for 15 minutes or until the vegetables and potatoes are tender. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

7. While soup mixture is cooling, put the flour into a small bowl and slowly add the milk, whisking the mixture as you pour. Add the half and half and continue to whisk until smooth and frothy.

8. Add flour mixture to the soup and heat on medium until slightly thick. You can add more half and half or milk if you want the soup thinner.

9. Stir in the clams and cook on medium heat about 5 minutes or until heated through.

10. Crumble the bacon with your hands and place in a bowl for serving.

11. Remove the bay leaf and serve with chopped parsley, crumbled bacon and oyster crackers on the side for each guest to add to their own bowls. Place the pepper mill on the table for individual use.