Ok, I love soup and New England Clam Chowder is one of my favorites. After living in Connecticut/New England for a few years I needed to master this soup. After a few attempts and combining about 5 different recipes I think I got down pretty good. This is great in any season, but is always a favorite in the Fall and Winter. One time after moving back to Michigan we hosted a Michigan State-Michigan party to watch the big game, our friend Rob ate 6 bowls of the chowder, after further review he claimed that ‘this soup is fantastic’!
I hope that you enjoy as much as Rob, so here you go.
Ingredients:
- 1 Large White Onion ; Diced
- 4 Stalks Celery ; Diced
- 4 Large Carrots ; Diced
- 6 tablespoon Butter
- 3 Bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons Garlic ; Minced
- 3 8oz Bottles Clam Juice
- 1-1/2 pounds Russet potatoes ; Peeled & Diced
- 2 tablespoons Parsley
- You can of course use fresh parsley and thyme if you have them available and I prefer to use the fresh, adjust measurements as it takes more fresh herbs than dried.
- 1/2 teaspoon Dried thyme
- 6 tablespoons Flour
- 4-5 Dashes Tabasco sauce
- 2 Cups Corn ; Roasted
- 3 Cups Heavy cream
- 5-6 Slices Bacon ; Cooked & Diced
- 51 Ounces Clams ; Minced
- Salt and Pepper ; To Taste
Preparation:
Mirepoix
- Dice up the Mirepoix, which is fancy word for Carrots, Onions and Celery and are basic starting ingredients for many soups and sauces.
- Simmer the Mirepoix with the Bay Leaves in 6 Tbs. of Butter until onions are tender over med/high heat (about 10 Min.).
- While this is simmering, roast Corn in a frying pan with 1 Tbs. of Butter on high heat until the corn browns a little. I had previously roasted corn on the cob on the grill, cut it off the cob and froze it to use at a later date, today!
- Add Garlic and simmer (about 3 minutes).
Add 6 Tbs. of Flour and stir until flour is incorporated and cooked (about 3 minutes). - Add Clam Juice (1 bottle at a time) and stir into vegetable mix; it should thicken and become bubbly.
- Add Clam Juice from the canned Clams, but don’t added the clams yet.
- Add Potatoes, Corn, Parsley, Thyme & Tabasco and stir until all are incorporated simmer 10-15 minutes over medium heat.
- Add Clams and 3 cups of Heavy Cream stir and simmer over low/medium heat for 10-15 minutes. (check Potatoes for doneness).
- Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
