chowder

New England Clam Chowder

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Can you believe January is already almost over!? I sure can’t….

This whole polar vortex business seems to bring about my soup making desires lately. All I want to do is curl up on the couch with a nice big bowl of hot delicious soup and watch some cheesy chick flicks. Mmm sounds pretty good right about now actually as I sit here looking out the window at the sideways snow that’s blowing outside.

This past summer we took a trip up to Cape Cod in Massachusetts where my brother and sister-in-law got married and we took the ferry out to Martha’s Vineyard and made a pit stop at Martha’s Vineyard Chowder Company for some clam chowder and my-oh-my were my taste buds happy as, well… clams! Yup I’m throwing in some cheesy puns here. I could have sat there all day and ate that soup until I exploded. It was so good.  If I  didn’t have to worry about flying back to DC I would have bought multiple containers to go and stock piled my fridge with them. I haven’t gotten clam chowder out of my head since.

 Clam Chowder 1

I finally decided to attempt my own version. I gotta say, it came out pretty fantastic. You can totally substitute fresh whole clams in this, but I’m on a bit of a smaller budget. This soup is sure to warm your soul and put you in couch-potato mode.

Clam Chowder 2

Ingredients:

  • 1 large onion diced
  • 3 stalks celery chopped
  • 2 cups diced baby red potatoes
  • 6 (6 1/2-ounce) cans chopped clams, undrained
  • 1 bottle clam juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried Thyme
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  • 1 qt. Half and half
  • 1 ½ tsp salt
  • Pinch of pepper
  • 2 bay leafs
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • Oyster crackers for topping!

Directions:

  • In a large sauce pot add 2 TBSP of butter and melt. Add onion, celery, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and cook until vegetables are softened.
  • Drain clams reserving liquid. Add liquid from clams and bottle of clam juice to vegetables. Add diced potatoes and bay leaves and bring to boil. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.
  • In a separate pot, melt remaining butter and whisk in the flour.
  • Add half and half and stir constantly until thickened.
  • After potatoes are soft, add flour/milk mixture to pot and bring back to a boil. Cook for about 10-15 minutes or until mixture thickens to the consistency you like. Stir well!
  • Add the clams and cook for a bout 2-3 minutes.
  • Remove bay leaves before serving.

Clam Chowder 3