During my youth I spent a lot of time in New England because my family is from there. The regional cuisine has a special place in my heart, especially the chowder. There is nothing quite like a rich, creamy, but not too thick clam chowder.... provided it's New England style. I don't make this soup too often in restaurants, only if we are running clam specials, or we are featuring clams as a menu item. You can add old bay to this if you want, when I make it in restaurants around the D.C. area I normally do, just make sure you use less salt.
When I make this I use a combination of fresh clams, canned clams, and clam juice to enhance the flavor. There are a couple of steps in here that can be done differently, but the end result of the way I do this keeps the vegetables crunchy without overcooking the clams, and ensures that the roux is evenly incorporated into the soup so there aren't any clumps. Additionally by poaching the celery and redskin potatoes in the flavor enhanced broth you are both adding their flavor to the broth, and adding the clam flavor to the vegetables.
When using fresh clams, one thing you want to do is let them soak briefly in water and coarse ground corn meal. This acts as a filter for the bivalves and removes grit than can commonly be found in them.
Also when dicing the bacon, the easiest way to do it, is to portion is into small stacks and freeze it briefly. That way when you cut it, you can dice it into evenly sized pieces.
Lastly, when dicing potatoes, or any vegetable or fruit that turns brown quickly, you can cut in advance provided you store them in water until ready to use.
Ingredients
Clam Poach
Chicken Stock 1 cup
Garlic Cloves 3 ea
Bay Leaves 3 ea
Thyme 1/4 bunch
Oregano 1/4 bunch
Parsley 1/4 bunch
White Wine 1 cup
Sherry 1 cup
Peppercorns, whole 1 T
Crushed Red Pepper 1 tsp
Little Neck Clams 2 bags (around 25 per bag)
Soak clams in a mixture of water and 1/2 cup coarse ground cornmeal per bag for around 3 hours.
In a soup pot combine all ingredients and place racks inside.
Remove clams and rinse off any cornmeal, place on top of racks and bring liquid to a simmer.
Poach for 10 minutes and turn off.
Remove clams from broth and shuck (remove meat from opened shells), rough chop, and reserve.
Strain poaching liquid and reserve broth, not vegetables.
Soup
Chicken Stock 2 qt (minus 1 cup)
Bacon 2 lbs
Butter 1/2 lb
Onions, diced 2 ea
Garlic, sliced 5 large cloves
Celery, diced 1 large bunch, 2 medium
Redskin Potatoes, diced 2o small or 10 medium
Thyme, whole 1/2 bunch
Bay Leaves 3 ea
Crushed Red Pepper 1 tsp
Avenue Spice 1 T
Salt and Pepper to taste
Clam Juice 8 oz (1 bottle)
Chopped Clams 1 ea
Water 1 qt
Flour 1 1/4 cup
Garnish
Parsley or scallions, cracked black pepper, oyster crackers, and bacon pieces
Method of Procedure
Add chicken stock to your clam poaching liquid. Add liquid from chopped clams, clam juice, and water. Bring to a simmer while you dice all your vegetables.
Organize your bacon into manageable portions and freeze for around 30 minutes to make it firm. Once frozen dice into small pieces and render it.
Blanch your celery then remove. Using the same broth (this will be the base liquid of your soup) blanch the potatoes until tender and remove.
Strain the rendered bacon reserving both the fat and the bacon separately. Put the bacon fat back into your soup pot.
Add your butter and melt. Once melted add your onions, crushed red pepper, garlic, bay leaves, avenue spice, and whole thyme. Cook while stirring until the onions are softened.
Add your flour cook while stirring to create a light blonde roux. Once the roux is at the proper color add your reserved blanching liquid and cook on low to medium heat while stirring with a whisk for about 20 minutes.
Once the liquid is properly thickened add your cream and continue to simmer until the soup is thickened.
Add your chopped clams, potatoes, and celery and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
Season to taste and add your rendered bacon. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
Ladle your soup into a bowl or mug and garnish with a twist or two of cracked black pepper, and some greenery. If you are using old bay in your recipe, throw a little on top for garnish as well.
Comentários