I could have sworn that I posted a clam chowder recipe a long time ago. I guess not. hmmm…
There are two basic types of clam chowder. “White” and “red.” That will be the first and last time I mention red, because that is not a chowder and is an abomination against nature.
I have also been meaning to post a clam chowder recipe using fresh clams, but I can’t find them lately. It is not something I have done in a while so would like to test cook a batch first. Perhaps next fall.
This recipe uses canned clams.
The recipe that I thought I had posted was using my Ninja Foodi pressure cooker setting. This is a standard stove-top recipe.
It is almost June, and it still feels like late winter. So, I am still making soups. They are easy to make and since I am still in a dark hole, easy is good. Hopefully, I will feel up to posting good recipes for summer soon.
Clam Chowder
4 tbsp butter2 tsp garlic
1 medium onion, diced
- In a large pot, sauté on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until onions are translucent
1 cup dry white wine
- Add the thyme and win to the pot
- Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half
4 cups heavy cream
- Add the potatoes and heavy cream
- Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender
1 tsp (or more) clam base - optional
1 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley - optional
- Keep the drained juice
- Whole baby clams are typically small and looked chopped, if they are too big for you chop them up
- Add as little or as much of the clam juice to dilute the heavy cream and add more clam flavor
- Simmer until the clams are heated through
- For a more clammy taste, add clam base, 1 tsp at a time until you get it to where you like
- Stir the clam base until dissolved
- The parsley is a garnish.
The number of potatoes depends on how chunky you want the soup to be.
As always, don’t use cooking wine. Supposedly, the gold standard for dry white wine is Sauvignon Blanc.
Clam base is often hard to find in normal grocery stores. Amazon has some made by Minor’s and there are also some base and bullion and powder on Amazon that come from Asia, so Asian grocery stores might stock it.
Base is always better than bullion and powders.
A fun thing to do is to make bread bowls to serve the chowder. The crusty bread recipe should work well. Half of that recipe will make two large bread bowls or 3 medium ones. You need a large, thick, crusty roll to hold in the liquid. If you can fill it at least twice with minimal leakage, you done good. The only alteration needed is to shape the dough into larger than normal rolls instead of loaves.
I am also posting a bread bowl recipe. The new recipe is a little more difficult as it is a more standard bread recipe that requires kneading. It uses 100% bread flour, which I think adds challenges in kneading it just right, but it is not too hard. This recipe will produce two large bowls or three medium bowls. Feel free to double it if you need.
Just cut off the top and remove the bread inside, leaving a little along the edges to help soak up some liquid. You can use the top and the remove inside to dip in your chowder.
Traditionally, this soup is served with oyster crackers.
