Clam Chowder Extravaganza

Well....I spent the day making clam chowder...and posting it step by step on Facebook. I believe I annoyed enough people so I can end my day happy. However, one of my nieces said I needed to start a blog and post this extravaganza. After I told her "I do have a blog" I then smacked myself in the head and decided to write a post. Novel idea I know. So without further adieu....

New England Clam Chowder....step by annoying step.

Place 30 little neck clams in pot and add 3 cups of water, simmer until they open. Throw away the sucker that doesn't open.

Remove clams from liquid, line a small fine mesh strainer with a coffee filter and strain the broth into a bowl. Remove the clams from shells. Place in a bowl covered in plastic wrap so they don't dry out and set aside.

Dice up 4 slices of salt pork (you can also use thick sliced bacon if you want), 1 medium onion and 3 ribs of celery. Take a break.....have a glass of wine if necessary.

  

Saute the salt pork until crispy golden brown about 10 minutes on a low heat. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and set aside. Leave all the greasy good stuff in the pan.

If you remembered to bring in your thyme for the winter, cut some and chop up 2 tsp.

  
Add onion, celery and thyme to bacon fat and saute low for approx 10 min. Then add in 2 tbs of flour and cook for approx 1 min.

Add reserved clam broth and 1.5 cups of water to pot. Add the diced potatoes. Cook about 15 min. until potatoes are tender. Lower heat and add 2 cups of half and half. Warm through but do not boil.

The next step is to chop the clams but once I started I had to stop and make a call...to my big brother the Executive Chef. Why you ask? Because as I was chopping the clams I noticed some icky green stuff in the bellies. Conversation went something like this "Hi Billy".."Hi Jane"..."So I am making clam chowder"..."That's nice"..."Question, when I started chopping the cooked clams I noticed so icky green stuff in the bellies. Am I supposed to keep that stuff or get rid of it"..."Well some people would keep it, but knowing you I would get rid of it". Thank you and goodnight.

Chop the clams (choose to keep the icky green stuff or discard) and add to the broth, salt and pepper to taste. Heat back up to temp and serve!

So in looking for a crouton recipe to top my soup I came upon this blog http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/07/fresh-new-england-clam-chowder-with-brown-butter-garlic-croutons/ DO NOT LOOK I BEG YOU DO NOT LOOK. You looked didn't you? I so want to be able to take those kind of shots....sigh

ps: so after eating this soup here are a couple of thoughts. It was not thick enough for me. DON'T START YELLING ALL YOU PEOPLE FROM NEW ENGLAND! I don't mean THICK...I mean thick enough. So next time I may make a bit more roux on the side just in case. I would also add more clams. I would add the potato a bit later in the recipe.....just so they don't get too soft. Oh and add a bay leaf!!! But other than that I liked this recipe.