Lighter New England Clam Chowder
Try this Lighter New England Clam Chowder recipe, or contribute your own.
Try this Lighter New England Clam Chowder recipe, or contribute your own.
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1/2 teaspoon old bay seasoning
- 4 slices bacon diced
- 1 stalk celery ends trimmed and diced
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or cornstarch if you're gluten-free)
- 1 (8 ounce) bottleâ clam juice
- 4 cups milk (i used 2%)
- 1.5 pounds yukon gold or red potatoes diced (and peeled if you'd rather not have skins)
- 1 teaspoon salt or more/less to taste
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
- 1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
- 2 (7-ounce) cans minced clams (not drained keep the juice!)
- optional garnish: chopped chives dash of hot sauce
- Carbohydrate 5.18925699983701 g
- Cholesterol 12.6933333333333 mg
- Fat 8.4767672499918 g
- Fiber 0.874888354123545 g
- Protein 2.80857724997246 g
- Saturated Fat 2.8254484166642 g
- Serving Size 1 1 -8 serving (181g)
- Sodium 157.728383333223 mg
- Sugar 4.31436864571346 g
- Trans Fat 0.944823749999646 g
- Calories 107 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat a large stockpot over medium-high heat.
- Add diced bacon and cook until crispy, stirring occasionally.
- Transfer the bacon to a separate plate, using a slotted spoon, reserving about 3 tablespoons of bacon grease in the stockpot.
- (Discard any extra grease, or you can substitute butter in place of the 3 tablespoons of bacon grease.
- Also, if you are short on time, I recommend dicing the potatoes and onion while the bacon cooks.) Add onion and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft.
- Add celery and garlic, and saute for an additional minute, stirring occasionally.
- Sprinkle the flour on top of the mixture, and stir until combined.
- Saute for an additional minute to cook the flour, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the clam juice and stir until combined.
- Then stir in the milk, potatoes, bay leaf, salt, Old Bay, thyme, black pepper and half of the bacon bits and stir until combined.
- Continue cooking until the mixture reaches a simmer, but is not boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until the potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally every few minutes so that the bottom does not burn.
- (The smaller you dice your potatoes, the faster they will cook.) When the potatoes are soft, stir in the clams.
- Taste, and season with more salt and pepper if needed. Serve warm, garnished with desired toppings.
Why does traditional chowder separate into watery pools of milk and heavy starches the moment it cools past serving temperature? Achieving a velvety texture without heavy cream requires relying on a proper fat-and-flour suspension. Rendering four ounces of diced bacon provides three tablespoons of rendered animal fat, which coats the all-purpose flour grains during the initial roux phase. Cooking this mixture for sixty seconds eliminates the raw cereal taste of the starch before the liquid enters the pot.
Pouring cold bottled clam juice and two percent milk into the warm pot requires constant whisking to prevent lump formation. Starch granules swell when heated in liquid, trapping moisture between their molecular chains. Yukon Gold potatoes release natural starches into the broth during the ten to fifteen minutes of simmering, reinforcing the thickening power of the flour. Keeping the heat at a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil prevents the milk proteins from curdling and separating.
Canned minced clams demand careful temperature management near the end of cooking. Adding mollusks too early in the process causes them to toughen into rubbery fragments due to prolonged heat exposure. Folding the clams in just after the potatoes soften retains their tender bite while warming them through. Cooks managing gluten sensitivities can successfully substitute an equal volume of cornstarch for the wheat flour, though the thickening agent must be whisked thoroughly to avoid graininess in the lighter broth.
