Lars’s New England Clam Chowder

A Little Personal History:

Description Text

Description:

Ingredients:

• 4 10-oz. cans whole clams (canned in water and/or salt water)
• 4 Lars’s Bread Bowls (6″ bowls)
• 2 cup whole milk
• 2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup onion (diced, about 1 medium onion)
• 2 Lbs russet potatoes (bite sized cubes)
• 4 Tbs of bacon grease
• 2 Tbs of all-purpose flour
• 2 cup clam juice
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Tbs fresh parsley (chopped)

Procedure:

1. I’ve found the finished flavor is better if you use bottled clam juice, but if clam juice is unavailable, drain the clams and reserve 1 cup of the liquid. Set aside drained clams in small bowl.
2. Prepare bread bowls as per instructions. Set aside.
3. In a 4+ cup bowl, add whole milk and cream. Set aside.
4. On cutting board dice onion, parsley, and cut potatoes into small bite sized cubes. Set aside in separate bowls.
5. In a large skillet, on medium heat, add bacon grease. When grease become hot, add diced onions and saute one minute, do not allow onions to brown. If you don’t have any bacon grease in your refrigerator, before sauteing onions, cook  8-10 slices of bacon in the skillet, retaining bacon grease before sauteing the onions (refrigerate cooled bacon in baggies for future use).
6. Reduce heat to medium-low, add the diced potatoes and saute all the potato has been coated by the fat. Sprinkle in the flour and saute until the potatoes and onions have been coated.
7. Add clam juice, increase heat to medium high, and bring to a boil while stirring. Once the mixture reaches a boil, reduce the heat to low so it simmers with the lid on. Cook with the lid on for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
8. After 20 minutes, transfer to large cooking pot, stirring mixture with wooden spoon.
9. With pot on medium heat, add the drained clams, and milk/cream mixture. Stir and heat through until hot, but not boiling.
10. While heating, season with salt and pepper to taste.
11. Transfer to individual bread bowls. Garnishing with chopped parsley.
12. Serve while hot.

Advanced Preparation:

• Steps 1 – 4 can be done in advance and refrigerated till ready to make soup. You can also cook the bacon and save the grease in advanced.
• While I prefer to prepare and serve the chowder immediately, the chowder can be made up in advance, refrigerated or frozen and re-heated when needed. If frozen, bring to room temperature before re-heating.

Tips, Notes, and Variations:

• Traditional New England Clam Chowder uses salt pork, as this is sometimes hard to come by, I use bacon grease since I always have some available in the fridge. If I have to cook some bacon for the grease, I’ll often crumble it up and use it as a garnish for the chowder or save the crumbled bacon for future use.