Carey's Rich and Creamy New England Clam Chowder
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 10 slices bacon cut into thin slices
- 1 large onion diced small
- 7 stalks celery diced small
- 1/4 cup dry white wine (may sub sherry)
- 5 5-oz cans minced baby clams (may sub razor clams) reserve liquid
- 6 russet potatoes evenly cut into 3 different sized cubes; minced, small, med
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 2 cup 2% milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme or dried if no fresh is available
- 1 cup chicken stock quartered (boullion or canned)
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper to taste (as needed)
- 6 cloves fresh peeled garlic minced
- 7 tablespoons butter if you have extra bacon grease, use it instead!!
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt (to taste, as needed)
- Carbohydrate 23.2076934580107 g
- Cholesterol 114.760665514476 mg
- Fat 37.7552903884619 g
- Fiber 1.79486163477043 g
- Protein 6.8668616138932 g
- Saturated Fat 20.9422281236292 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (239g)
- Sodium 282.763906612851 mg
- Sugar 21.4128318232402 g
- Trans Fat 2.57436622540007 g
- Calories 453 calories
Step-by-step
- Saute bacon in soup pot and cook on medium low heat until almost crispy. (If you have any additional bacon fat that you have happened to save add 2 tablespoons to this as the bacon flavor makes all the difference.)
- Add onion and celery, cook until translucent.
- Add garlic, pepper, thyme and chicken stock.
- Add clam juice, white wine (if using ) or sherry if no wine. Carefully stir while still allowing to simmer.
- Add potatoes, (the purpose of the 3 sizes is so that some will break down and others will remain whole, giving great texture to chowder.)
- Cover and let cook until potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- Stir occasionally so potatoes won't stick or burn to the bottom of pan.
- Add milk and cream keep stirring carefully.
- In a separate small saute pan, melt butter and mix flour with it to make a ROUX..
- Once the chowder is just beginning to come to a slow boil, stir in the roux and let it slightly thicken the chowder. ** Add a little at a time and gauge the thickness based on your preference.**
- Turn the heat down to very low and let it just set and simmer but NOT BOIL !! for approx 25 minutes.
- ** IMPORTANT ** Add your canned or fresh minced clams the last 10 minutes !! Very important so you don't over cook clams. They will become rubbery... Still edible! Just rubbery lol
Why are my clams tough and chewy? Cooks ask this precise question halfway through making chowder when they add the protein too early. Molluscs require very little heat; dropping canned or fresh minced baby clams into the pot during the final ten minutes prevents them from seizing into rubbery morsels. Maintaining a gentle simmer rather than a rolling boil after dairy incorporation stops cream and milk from curdling, preserving a velvety mouthfeel.
Texture Through Potato Geometry
Uniformly chopped vegetables create a monotone soup, but cutting russet potatoes into three distinct sizes transforms the final consistency. Mincing the smallest pieces allows them to break down completely into the broth, acting as a natural starch thickener alongside a cooked butter and flour roux. Medium and large cubes retain their structural integrity, providing varied resistance against the teeth while absorbing savory flavors from bacon fat, garlic, and chicken stock.
Adapting the Base
Dry white wine brings essential acidity to balance heavy cream and whole milk, though dry sherry serves as an identical 1:1 substitute without altering the dish's fundamental chemistry. Cooks seeking alternative fats can substitute vegetable oil for bacon drippings, though retaining rendered pork fat adds considerable depth to the aromatics.
