Wednesday was a beautiful day in the Ozarks. A perfect day for lunch on the deck.
I prepared Clam Chowder and served it with hot rolls.
4 or 5 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 or 3 ribs of celery, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 or 3 6.5 ounce cans clams, packed in water.
8 ounce bottle clam juice
4 slices bacon
1/2 stick butter
1 pint heavy cream
1 cup half and half
Thyme
Parsley
Bay Leaf
Cracked pepper to taste.
No salt needed.
Cook potatoes, covered in water just to the top, until slightly underdone. While potatoes are cooking, cut bacon into small pieces and cook in skillet. Drain on paper toweling. Add celery and onion to skillet and cook until translucent, not brown. Add minced garlic at the end.
Drain clams, reserving a portion of the liquid. Rinse clams removing any remaining sand.
Drain potatoes and return to pot. Add 1 bottle of clam juice, about a cup of the juice from the canned clams and the drained clams. Add onion, garlic, celery, approximately 1 tablespoon of dried thyme, tied in cheesecloth and 1 bay leaf, simmer about 15 or 20 minutes.
Remove thyme and bay leaf.
Prepare a roux of melted butter and 1 tablespoon flour, stir into chowder to thicken.
Add bacon, heavy cream and half and half. Heat, do not boil.
Garnish with a pat of butter and chopped parsley.
Serve with multigrain rolls
6-8 one cup ladle servings
Enjoy!
Lunchtime View
There are lots of Clam Chowder recipes. I sort of combined a few to make this pot of chowder.
One of the easiest chowder recipes, I know of, was prepared by an old St Charles, Missouri restaurant, Noah’s Ark, now closed and demolished. That recipe includes 3 canned soups; celery soup, potato soup and clam chowder. This is the chowder I make for big gatherings. I prepare a potato soup, add the canned soups and extra clams, a couple of cans of evaporated milk and butter. I throw in a handful of instant potato flakes to thicken. It’s okay, but not quite a tasty as the chowder I prepared Wednesday.
Family…..are you reading this?
