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http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2765471#post339438607
Ingredients
- Topneck clams, washed well 60-90 ea.
- Water 1 gal.
- Salt pork, minced to a paste 8 oz.
- Clarified butter 8 oz.
- Onions, minced 1 ½ lb.
- Celery, small dice 12 oz.
- Flour 10 oz.
- Potatoes, russet, peeled, small dice 2 lb.
- Heavy cream, scalded 1 qt.
- Milk, scalded 1 qt.
- Salt as needed
- Pepper, black, ground as needed
- Tabasco sauce 2 tsp.
- Worcestershire sauce, or as needed 2 tsp.
Directions
- Steam (actually boil) the clams in the water in a covered pot until they open.
- Decant and strain the broth through a filter or cheesecloth and reserve. Pick the clams and chop and reserve the meat.
- Render the salt pork. Add clarified butter, onions and celery and sweat until they are translucent, about 6 to 7 minutes.
- Add the flour and cook 5 to 6 minutes (singer) to make a blond roux.
- Combine the reserved clam broth and enough additional water to make 1 gallon. Gradually add the liquid to the roux and vegetable mixture and incorporate completely, working out any lumps. Simmer for 30 minutes, skimming the surface as necessary.
- Add the potatoes and simmer until tender.
- Return the soup to a simmer. Add the reserved clams. Combine the milk and cream and bring to simmer—it is now “scalded”. Strain the scalded cream and milk into the soup. Adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, Tabasco, and Worcestershire.
- When I would make chowder at work, it would always be "enough" flour, 'enough liquid'. Im not really down with the Worcestershire, but I definitely prefer tabasco or red hot to using black pepper -- not enough for real heat, but I dunno, it just tastes more right.
- Scalding the cream and stuff is maybe a bit much -- but the cream should definitely come near the end of the soup (I treat it as I would salt and pepper), and shouldnt be boiled at all (this holds for most cream soups).
Tips
- Clam chowder, at least for me, isn't so much a recipe-able thing. Each ingredient changes the soup a little bit so you have to figure out what you like best. Personally, I fry up a couple strips of bacon (salt pork would be more traditional but I can't find it at my grocery store) then once the bacon is crispy take out the solids and toss in a medium onion, diced. Saute until the onions are just starting to turn brown, then add a couple tablespoons of flour, enough to give you a paste-like consistency at the bottom of the pan.
- Prior to this, if you were smart, you would have shucked about 15 large quahog (my personal favorite) or cherrystone clams. Make sure you reserve their juice, because fresh clam juice is way better than the bottled stuff. Dice up the meat while you're at it. This step is a pain in the ass since those little fuckers are strong and often I resort to using a screwdriver and a hammer to get them open.
- Back to the pot, add a large diced russet potato (or more, if you like a really chunky, thick chowder), a pinch of salt, a couple grinds of black pepper, and all of the juice from the clams. Depending on how juicy your clams were, you may have to supplement it either with bottled clam juice or a little water. You want it thick, so I'd just use whatever juice comes out of the clams. Important: strain your clam juice through some cheesecloth, unless you like grit and bits of shell in your soup.
- Boil this for a good 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are very tender but not falling apart. It will be VERY thick at this point, way too thick to eat. You want to melt a tablespoon or two of butter over this and then stir in enough cream to get the consistency that you like. I guess you could use half-and-half or even milk, but fuck it if you're going to shuck all those clams you might as well make it with heavy cream too.
- Finally, I grind on a shitload of black pepper as course as my pepper mill goes. I put it in a bowl and eat it with a loaf of sourdough. And more black pepper.
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