Best Brians New England Clam Chowder Recipes

CLAM CHOWDER RECIPE

Steps:

• In a heavy bottomed soup pot or dutch oven, Saute chopped bacon over med/high heat until browned, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside on paper towels. You should have about 3-4 Tbsp bacon fat in the pot; remove extra fat if you wish, but I left it in ;).
• In the same pot with bacon fat add in 2 sliced carrots, 2 stalks celery (diced), 1 small onion (finely diced) and saute over med/high until soft and golden (7-8 min). Sprinkle with 4 Tbsp flour and stir to combine. Sautee another minute.
• Stir in 2 cups chicken broth, 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp tabasco, 2 cans chopped clams with juice, 1 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/4 tsp pepper, and about 1 to 1 1/2 tsp salt or to taste. Bring to a light boil.
• Add 1 1/2 lbs cubed potatoes, 1 cup heavy cream and 2 cups milk. Stir to combine, cover and lightly boil until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork, stirring occasionally (17-20 mins). It will thicken as it cools. If it's too thick, you can add a little milk to thin it out.
• To serve, garnish with your browned bacon, finely chopped cilantro (cilantro takes it to the next level) and serve with crackers or crusty bread.

CONTEST-WINNING NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain; set aside. Saute celery and onion in the drippings until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the potatoes, water, clam juice, bouillon, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes., In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 cup half-and-half until smooth. Gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes., Stir in clams and remaining half-and-half; heat through (do not boil). Crumble the cooked bacon; sprinkle over each serving.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place the clams and 1 cup of water in a large pot. Cover and place over a high heat and cook the clams for 6 to 7 minutes. Uncover and remove the open clams.Cover the pot again and continue cooking the clams that haven't opened yet. Cook the clams for another 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and discard any clams that have not opened. Strain the liquid from the pot through a mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter and reserve.
• Coarsely chop the clams and reserve.
• Drizzle a few drops of olive oil into the bottom of the clam pot and toss in the bacon. Bring the pan to a medium heat. When the bacon has let off a lot of fat and become brown and crispy, toss in the onions and season lightly with salt. Cook the onions until they are very soft and aromatic but have no color, 7 to 8 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
• Sprinkle the flour over the onions and potato mixture and stir to combine. Gradually whisk in the reserved clam juice. When the clam juice has been whisked in and there are no lumps, whisk in the milk and heavy cream and toss in the bay leaves and thyme. Taste for seasoning and adjust if needed. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer and simmer until the potatoes are cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Toss in the reserved clams. Taste and re-season if needed and add hot sauce if using.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER I

Steps:

• Place diced bacon in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crisp; add onions, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in water and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
• Pour in half-and-half, and add butter. Drain clams, reserving clam liquid; stir clams and 1/2 of the clam liquid into the soup. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through. Do not allow to boil.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Rinse the clams several times under cold running water. Transfer to a large pot and add 3 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, then cover and cook until the clams open, about 6 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl; reserve the broth. Transfer the clams to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
• Cook the bacon in a large pot over medium heat until crisp, about 10 minutes; remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Melt the butter in the same pot over medium heat. Add the celery, onion and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in the reserved clam broth, 1 1/2 cups water and the potato. Bring to a simmer and cook until the potato is tender and the soup thickens slightly, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the clams from their shells and roughly chop.
• Reduce the heat under the soup to medium low. Whisk in the half-and-half and warm through (do not boil). Remove from the heat. Stir in the chopped clams; season with salt and pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the reserved bacon and chives.

BRIAN'S NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Add 1/4 of butter to stock pot and brown the bacon in the bottom.
• Once the bacon is done, remove it and save as garnish. Add the remaining butter, onion, celery, thyme, bay leaves, and garlic. Saute till soft.
• Add the chicken stock, potatoes, corn, and the reserved clam juice. Cook on medium till tender. It will take about 25-30 minutes. If using the bouillion, you will need enough water to cover the potatoes.
• Add the clams and the cream.
• Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Thicken it to your taste. I use a slurry of flour and water strained. Then bring to boil making sure you stir so as not to burn the bottom.
• I like a few fresh pieces of tomato on mine at the last second.
• Serve with oyster crackers or saltines.

NEW ENGLAND-STYLE "CLAM CHOWDER"

Steps:

• For the chowder: In a 6-quart pot lined with a pasta basket or pasta insert, bring 1 gallon salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the Potato and Chive Gnocchi to the pot and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• In a medium saute pan set over medium to low heat, cook the bacon until almost crisp, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until translucent, about 30 seconds. Add the clams and Clam Stock. At this point remove the gnocchi from the pasta water and add it to the saute pan. Turn the heat to high and reduce the liquid by one-third, about 30 seconds. Add the heavy cream, butter and lemon juice. Continue to cook over high heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about another 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and season with salt and black pepper.
• In a separate, small bowl, combine the celery leaves, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss until coated and season with salt and black pepper.
• To plate, spoon the gnocchi into a bowl and pour sauce over the top. Garnish with Crispy Shallots and top with the dressed celery leaves.
• While still hot, remove the skins from the potatoes. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or a sieve onto a clean work surface. Mix the riced potatoes, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, egg and chives together until fully incorporated. Form the potato mixture into a square and top with the flour. Using a bench scraper, cut the flour into the potato mixture until completely incorporated. The dough should be tender to the touch and just a tiny bit moist. Do not overwork the dough or the gnocchi produced will be tough. Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
• Once the dough has rested, divide the dough into 8 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, make snakes with each piece of dough by using your hands and rolling the dough back and forth. Then, using a bench scraper, cut each length of dough into 1/2-inch pieces. One serving is 15 pieces.
• Purge the clams in cold salted water for about 2 hours. This will remove any sand and grit from the clams.
• Place the littleneck clams into a pot with the garlic, carrots, celery, onions, cracked black peppercorns, parsley, thyme and bay leaves. Cover the clams with 1 gallon water, and then cover the pot with foil. Bring to a boil on the stove until the clams have opened, about 10 minutes. Strain all the liquid and pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any sand. Reserve the liquid as our clam stock. Then pick all the meat from the clams and reserve for the chowder.
• Soak the sliced shallots in the milk for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 250 degrees F.
• While the shallots are soaking, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne and paprika and mix thoroughly. Then remove the shallots from the milk and squeeze out all the liquid. Lightly coat them with the seasoned flour. Fry the shallots until they are a light golden color, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper.