New England Clam Chowder.

[Rudge]

It's scary, it's hard, it takes forever.............NOT.  

What you need -

    2 tablespoons butter
    1/2 medium onion, finely diced
    1 celery stalk, finely diced
           (.5 onion, .5 celery,, you know the drill)  
    1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
    1 tsp minced garlic (optional)
    1 (10-ounce) can chopped clams drained
    a bunch of 2% or whole milk (doesn't matter don't try with skim)
    2 Red potatoes, cut into 1/2- inch cubes
    Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

What you do -
  
Boil the potatoes separately in a pot large enough to hold the potatoes and enough water to make them float. (if they floated   )
Saute the onion and celery in the butter until soft and then add the flower to make a lumpy paste.
Add milk and increase the heat to thicken the mixture (add milk slowly until you reach the thickness that you want)
Once the potatoes are done, drain them, toss them in and reduce the heat.
Add garlic if desired, kosher salt and pepper to taste (a bit on the salty side is good)(and lots of black pepper is good too   )
Last but not least, add the clams.

(Note: if you happen to have access to fresh clams, steam them in as little water as you can, just until they open. Shuck them and then dice them up however you want. You will want about 1/2 cup. Still, add them last and only cook until hot.)

This will make about 4 servings so adjust if you need more.

I have done this many times and it is always a hit!

Good Luck.  
  
  

[Neal ManBear]

My favorite soup! Woohoo! I love it!     

[Rudge]

Neal, people do all sorts of additional stuff to the basic chowder like adding herbs or spices, using half-N-half or heavy creams.

I have found these things simply complicate matters and don't really add much to the dish.

One thing I would like to note however is that instead of butter, you can use bacon grease for sauteing the onion and celery.

Dice up the bacon and fry it in the vessel that you plan to make the chowder. Remove the bacon bits and then saute in that instead of butter.

Save the crispy bacon bits to sprinkle on top as a garnish.  

[Neal ManBear]

Yep, there are many variations on the basic chowder recipe. The only chowder I ever tried and didn't care for was manhattan clam chowder. That is just glorified tomato soup, to me.     

[greywolf]

Well, just goes to prove you should never jump to conclusions:

I thought this was going to be some wisecrack post about the Superbowl!!   

greywolf.

clam chowder = my favourite American dish.

[OMSkates]

Thanks for this , Rudge! 
I just made a Potato Leek soup recently with homemade bacon & crouton garnishments.  I'd like try your chowder recipe soon.

[Neal ManBear]

Thanks for this , Rudge! 
I just made a Potato Leek soup recently with homemade bacon & crouton garnishments.  I'd like try your chowder recipe soon.

     
Going to share your Potato Leek soup recipe?      

[OMSkates]

Thanks for this , Rudge!  
I just made a Potato Leek soup recently with homemade bacon & crouton garnishments.  I'd like try your chowder recipe soon.

   
Going to share your Potato Leek soup recipe?    

K  

Ingredients
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 cups cubed crusty rye bread
3 to 4 large leeks
1/2 sweet yellow onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth
 1.5 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup half&half
3 to 4 lbs russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Celery salt and freshly ground pepper
2 cups frozen peas (do not thaw)
 Bacon cooked crispy and crumbled

Directions
Prepare your onion and garlic chopped.
Thinly slice the white & light green part of leeks.  Retain dark green part for other uses.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Make the croutons: Melt 3 tablespoons butter, then mix with the paprika and garlic powder in a bowl, spread onto baking sheet and toss the bread cubes around until well coated . Bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
 Sautee the leeks, onion and garlic in 3 tablespoon butter  till soft.
 Start boiling the broth with 3 cups water, the potatoes, 1/2 teaspoon each celery salt and pepper;  Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, partially covered, until the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
  
Add 2 cups of the potatos to a blender/prcessor using enough of the hot liquid to make a puree then return to the pot.
 Add the cream, half&half, leek/onion/butter mixture, peas and simmer 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper or even extra celery salt to taste.
 Serve topped with the croutons and bacon.

Tastes great with a Pilsner.

[Neal ManBear]

Thank you very much, OMSkates.      

[YouCanToo]

Clam Chowder = Perfectly good Potato Chowder gone bad 

Ahh, sorry  never have like the taste or texture of clams 

[Neal ManBear]

In chowder is the only way to eat clams for me.    

Yum! Potato chowder - corn chowder - cheddar chowder!      

[Rudge]

In chowder is the only way to eat clams for me.  

Yum! Potato chowder - corn chowder - cheddar chowder!    

The term "Chowder" is pretty generic. You could probably just substitute the clams with almost anything, or just leave them out. The recipe still works without them

[chilly]

No thanks,not a lover of clams(are they scallops)will do the leak soup.

[Rudge]

No thanks,not a lover of clams(are they scallops)will do the leak soup.

Yea OMSkates's Leek Soup I am going to try too.

[nok]

I'd go for the clams, just not canned ones. Fresh seafood is available everyday where I live.