New England Clam Chowder

New England clam chowder (the only type that matters) done right is one of the most satisfying things to have on a rainy or cold day. We have certainly done it right this time with 4 DOZEN delicious FRESH clams, yes you read that right- 4 dozen! This recipe really doesn’t have that many ingredients and you need enough clams for them to really be the star of the show.

To start off, scrub your clams in cold water making sure there is no sand leftover on their little shells. Then boil them in batches in a big pot with about 1/4 C of water in the bottom. You want to do this in batches so that the clams are only in a single layer, this allows them to cook evenly and for you to be able to tell exactly when they are done. As the shells open remove to a sheet pan or large bowl trying to reserve as much of the liquid inside of them as possible!

Once all of your clams are cooked, strain the cooking liquid and set aside to use later. Add the diced bacon slices to your heavy bottom pan and cook until fat is rendered, then add your diced onion, and a bit of pepper to taste.

Once onions are translucent add in your diced potatoes, the reserved strained clam liquor and cooking liquid, and enough water to just cover the potatoes. Cover and let cook until potatoes are fork tender. Meanwhile, remove the clams from the shells and chop if desired (I do prefer to chop them up, but some New Englanders would call this a sin :)) This is the place where you can press pause for a bit if you aren’t ready for dinner yet, you wont want this to sit on the stove for very long once the clams and milk are added!

Once the potatoes are tender, whisk together your flour and milk and slowly add to the mixture while stirring. The soup should be nice and thick and creamy at this point. Last step is to add the clams back in! Add the clams, stir and let them warm back up in the soup for about 5 or so minutes, and you are done!