posts may contain Amazon affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you buy (but doesn't cost you anything extra). Occasionally I receive free products and/or run sponsored posts—this will always be stated clearly in the post. Thank you for supporting this blog.

This website contains some quotations, excerpts, and screen clips from copyrighted material. These uses fall well within the copyright doctrine of "Fair Use".
Wednesday, February 11, 2009

My Manhattan Clam Chowder....yum

*2/20/15: See my updated Manhattan Clam Chowder Redux post (new and updated)!
My Manhattan Clam Chowder | www.girlichef.com
Soup, soup, soup....I love soup! I've been feeling the need for some clam chowder lately, so I finally got myself together and made some early this afternoon. It was so incredibly satisfying...I was swooning in my kitchen. I mopped it up with a loaf of french bread and washed it down with some red wine...


My Manhattan Clam Chowder
Print Friendly and PDF
by Heather Schmitt-Gonzalez
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Keywords: soup/stew bacon clams potatoes tomatoes American

Ingredients (serves 12-15)
  • 1/2 pound bacon, diced
  • 1-2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 shallots, diced
  • 4 stalks celery, diced
  • 3 carrots, diced
  • 8 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red chile flakes
  • 8 sprigs fresh thyme (or a scant tablespoon dry)
  • 2 pounds red potatoes, diced
  • 2-3 cups clam juice
  • 4 cups fish stock, seafood stock, or water
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes w/ juices
  • big handful chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 cans (~18 ounces total) whole or chopped clams (reserve juice)
  • sea salt
  • freshly ground black or white pepper
Instructions
In a Dutch Oven over low heat, cook bacon until almost done; drain all but a couple Tbs of bacon grease off. Add butter to pot. Turn up to medium & add onions, celery & carrot. Cook ~10 minutes or until soft.
My Manhattan Clam Chowder | www.girlichef.com
start with bacon...always.
Add garlic, bay leaves, crushed red pepper & thyme. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add potatoes, clam juice & water/stock. Raise heat to high & bring to a boil; Gently boil for ~15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add tomatoes w/ their juices. Cook another 10 minutes or so. Turn heat to low & add clams & parsley. Season to taste w/ salt & pepper. Don’t re-boil once clams are added, or they will get tough.
My Manhattan Clam Chowder | www.girlichef.com
add the veggies
After this, I put on the lid, turn off the heat and let sit for an hour or so to let all the flavors mingle. Discard bay leaves & thyme sprigs. If you need to reheat, do so over low heat until just before simmer.

Serve w/ a loaf of crusty bread & a bottle of wine

notes:
To "dice" the bacon, I put a 1 lb. package of bacon in the freezer for ~45 minutes or so, then cut in half crosswise, then slice into small strips. These will break down nicely into a dice.

For the clams, I use 2 (6.5 oz ea.) cans of chopped clams & 1 (5 oz) can of whole baby clams. I like to bit into some bigger chunks sometimes. Feel free to use a combo or just one kind; again, personal preference.

My Manhattan Clam Chowder | www.girlichef.com


Serve w/ a loaf of crusty bread & a bottle of wine.

I usually roast a head of garlic, too. Mop up yummy soup w/ bread…. All these ingredients can be tweaked to your own liking…don’t have to be exact, just use them as a guideline.

 The crushed red pepper adds a little heat…nice against the juicy pop of the clam in your mouth….enjoy This makes a really big batch of soup. I’m sure it will half fine if you don’t need so much.