New England Clam Chowder

New England clam chowder is the ultimate winter comfort food that’s full of briny clams, creamy potatoes, smokey bacon and silky broth. Pair our simple recipe with a handful of oyster crackers or a few thick slices of sourdough bread and pretend that you’re snuggled up by the fire at a quaint Maine inn on the shore.

Chowder ingredients

• 5 pounds of live cherrystone clams in shells (or quahogs), shells scrubbed*
• 3 ounces of bacon, finely diced
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ¼ cup celery, minced
• 1 cup of onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons flour (or 3 if you want a thicker chowder)
• 3 cups of stock from the clams, or bottled
• 1 ¼ pounds all-purpose potatoes, peeled and diced
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon white pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• Additional salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups heavy cream

Note: If you can’t buy fresh clams where you live, substitute 10 ounces of canned chopped clams, discarding the liquid, and 3 cups of bottled clam juice

Instructions if using live clams

1. In a large pan big enough to fit all the clams, bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the clams, cover the pot and cook over medium high heat for 7-9 minutes.
2. Remove clams from broth and place on a sheet tray, discarding any that didn’t open. Reserve the broth, but make sure to strain it a few times through a fine sieve lined with a coffee filter or cheese cloth to remove all traces of sand.
3. Remove the clams from the shells, cut the meat around the belly and reserve. The remaining belly will look like a big ring with a sack attached. You’ll want to split the sack open with a sharp knife, then scrape out and discard what is inside. This is what the clam last ate and leaving it in will make your chowder muddy and gritty.
4. Roughly chop up the clam meat and discard the shells.

Instructions for chowder

1. Set a large heavy bottomed pot or a dutch oven over medium heat, add bacon and cook until the fat is rendered and meaty pieces are slightly browned.
2. Add butter, celery, onions, garlic and half the diced potatoes. Cook for about ten minutes or until onions are translucent, making sure to stir often.
3. Add flour and cook for another minute, making sure to stir until all the flour has been moistened.
4. Add 3 cups of reserved broth, or the bottled juice, the rest of the potatoes, thyme, pepper and bay leaf, then stir to combine.
5. Bring everything to a boil, lower heat and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Once potatoes are tender, remove the pot from the heat, discard bay leaf and add chopped clams and cream.
7. Season chowder with salt and pepper as needed. Depending on how briny the clams were and the addition of bacon, you may not need to put in additional salt.
8. Scoop into bowls and serve with oyster crackers on the side.