Ingredients
- 4-6 strips of bacon- chopped
- 3 stalks celery- chopped
- 1 medium onion- diced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic- chopped
- 3 T flour
- 3 small tins of chopped clams- drained with liquid reserved*
- 2 cups stock
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large russet potatoes- peeled and diced to 1/2 inch pieces
- salt and pepper
- fresh or dried thyme
- 1 cup cream
*You can also use 1-1.5 pounds of fresh clams. Wash thoroughly, then steam until clams open. Reserve liquid from steamer pan. Shuck and chop the clam meat.
Method
- Brown the bacon in a heavy stock pot. Drain crispy bits and set aside. Leave approximately 3 tablespoons of fat in the pan. Add butter if your bacon is lame and doesn't render 3 T.
- Add celery, onion, and garlic to fat and cook until translucent.
- Sprinkle in flour and cook until lightly brown.
- Deglaze pan with clam liquid, scraping up any good bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Add salt, pepper, thyme, stock and milk and bring to low boil.
- When soup is starting to thicken, add potatoes and cook approximately 10-12 minutes until potatoes are soft.
- Add clams and bacon and simmer 2 minutes more.
- Turn heat down to low and stir in the cream. Bring just to a simmer and remove from stove.
- Taste for seasoning.
Good to Know
You can easily add any kind of seafood to this chowder.
Any stock will work, but each will add it's own profile. Seafood stock would be ideal.
First rule of soup: it will always taste better the next day as leftovers.