NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER!!!!

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER.... There is nothing to say but YUM!

Here is an easy and quick recipe that tastes complicated and hard to do, the good thing is that you can make it for yourself and get all the benefits from this amazing food! No need to buy those terrible canned versions.... See for yourself....

5 lbs clams (I bought chocolate ones that were on special at the market, you can even used canned, save the liquid)
3-4 slices of bacon, chopped
3 tbl butter
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/3 cup celery, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I used a lot more but that's just me)
2-3 tbl flour
3 cups clam liquid
4-5 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed (white or red, your choice/ peeled or not too)
1 tsp fresh thyme
2-3 bay leaves, whole
2 cups heavy cream
Black pepper, freshly ground


Put the clams in a large pot, add 3-4 cups of water, cover and cook about 7-9 minutes so they open, throw out the ones that didn't open. Separate the meat from the shells and then filter the broth 2-3 times with either cheesecloth or a coffee filter to insure you get rid of the sand. Clean the clams, slit them in half, clean out the bag and make sure they're clean, chop.  If you're using canned clams, reserve the liquid and add water to make 3 cups or buy additional clam juice. Put clams aside.

In a large heavy pot over medium heat, put the bacon and render out the fat until the bacon is golden. Add the butter,
melt and then add the onion, garlic, celery and half of the potatoes and stir often until the onions are soft and clear. Add the flour and work it in well so everything's covered and cook 1-2 minutes to cook out the flour taste.

Now you can add the clam broth and the rest of the potatoes. Throw in the bay leaf and thyme. Stir everything well, bring to a boil, lower the heat to simmer and cook for about 8-10 minutes to cook the potatoes.

Once the potatoes are cooked, remove from the heat and take out the bay leaves.  Now you can add the clams and the cream. Mix everything and watch for thickening of the liquid. This should only be done if you are ready to serve, otherwise, stop before this step and wait on the clams and cream until you are ready. This comes together very quickly and will give you better quality if you wait.

Heat or re-heat the liquid at serving time, add pepper and TASTE IT. Don't foget clams are briny and you did add bacon so you might not need to add salt so be sure. Once you serve in a bowl, add a dollop of butter on top and serve with some amazing crusty bread. YUM!

If you live in an area where you can go claming, hope you will, there's nothing like fresh live clams for texture and taste. If not, that's ok, even if you're using canned clams, this will be better than any store bought soup you can get and much healthier for you (yes, even with the butter and bacon), so do yourself and your family a big favor and make soup!

We had this with a Roasted Garlic Crusty Loaf and I saved some clams for Linguine alla Vongole, another family favorite.... This also takes like 5 minutes to make.