"New England" Clam Chowder

[msina]

I happen to like both NE Clam Chowder and RI Clam Chowder

I like them both as well. But, then again, I like most everything but beets and peas.

[grimstuff]

I ain't seeing no recipes.... C'mon, give 'em up people. All I see is talk and no walk. I'm making chowder in a day or two and I want a bowl to die for.

[7th generation]

Originally Posted by grimstuff

I ain't seeing no recipes.... C'mon, give 'em up people. All I see is talk and no walk. I'm making chowder in a day or two and I want a bowl to die for.

.........1 quart clams
Wash them in:
........3 cups water
Drain through cheesecloth. Reserve liquid. Cut the hard part of the clams from the soft part. (If purchased frozen, you can skip the last step as it has already been done.)
Chop finely:
........clams
........A 2 inch cube of salt pork.
........1 large onion
Saute the salt pork very slowly. Remove and reserve the cracklings. Add the minced onions and diced clams to the fat. Stir and cook slowly about 5 minutes. Sift over them and stir until blended. Add 4 cups hot, but not boiling milk.
........3 tablespoons flour
Heat and stir in the reserved liquid. Prepare and add:
........2 cups pared raw potatoes
........1/2 bay leaf
Cover the pan and simmer the chowder until the potatoes are done, but still firm. Add the cracklings, clams and:
.........3 tablespoons butter
Simmer 3 minutes more. Allow to refridgerate overnight and umm, ummm good.

[RetiringInMaine]

Ingredients

3 (6.5 ounce) cans minced clams
1 cup minced onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart half-and-half cream
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper to taste
Directions

Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

============

First, you click your ruby slippers together three times and say you yourself, "I’m from New England, not Manhattan." If you can’t get past that, there’s no point in continuing.

But if you’re still reading, there are a few points to making a wonderful chowder. The first is the clams. Cherrystone or littleneck clams or cockles make the best chowder, but are more expensive than some other varieties. Lesser clams may not win you awards, but can still be delicious. Another consideration is that milk is liable to curdle, while heavy cream is not, so the choice is not just a flavor issue. Finally, don’t try to rush it. The onions will brown, the potatoes will get beaten to a pulp, and the clams will get tough if you crank up the heat. Awards are bestowed for flavor, not speed.


Ingredients:
3 cups fish stock or water 
1 cup dry white wine 
8 pounds of clams 
1/4 pound sliced bacon, cut in 1-inch pieces 
3 medium onions, chopped 
2 pounds of potatoes (about 3 medium sized), peeled and diced 
2 cups of heavy cream 
1 bouquet garni (thyme, a bay leaf, and parsley tied up in cheesecloth)
Instructions:
In a large pot, bring the stock and wine to a simmer. Add the bouquet garni. Add the clams, cover, and cook until the clams have opened (7 minutes or more for smaller clams, up to 15 minutes for large chowder clams.) Remove the clams from the pot, remove the clams from the shells and set aside. Strain the cooking liquid through three layers of cheesecloth or a clean kitchen towel to remove sand, and set aside.
Cook the bacon until the pieces begin to crisp. Remove the pieces with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add the onion to the bacon fat over low heat, and cook the onions until they are soft, but not brown. This may take 20 minutes. Pour in the clam cooking liquid, add the potatoes, and simmer gently until the potatoes are cooked through — probably another 20 minutes or so.
Five minutes before you’re ready to serve, add the clams, bacon and cream to the soup. Season with freshly ground pepper; salt is probably unnecessary. Serve with crackers or croutons. This makes 6 to 8 servings.
If, in lovely summer weather, you have fresh corn available, cut the kernels from a few cobs and add them to the soup in the last 5 to 10 minutes, as well.

[maureenb]

Originally Posted by 7th generation

.........1 quart clams [...] and umm, ummm good.

spoon, please!

[gentlearts]

OK, I'll play.
Here's the recipe from the Yankee Cookbook, a source to be respected, although they are from Vermont and I have issues. As you can see, it is very simple an unadorned. I protest that they do not put clam broth in it.

CLAM CHOWDER

1/8 lb salt pork or 2 Tbls. butter
1 onion chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
salt & pepper to taste
1 pt. minced fresh sea clams
1 qt. rich milk, scalded

Dice salt pork and render out the fat. Saute onion in fat or butter until golden. Add potatoes and enough water to barely cover. Simmer until potatoes are tender. Add clams. Simmer 2 minutes. Add milk and adjust seasonings.

[retiredtinbender]

There are about 5 different reciepes that I know of on the island here. All of them are wrong except for the persons that is telling you about it. My mother used her own or Marjorie Standish Downeast Cooking for hers and so do I. Everyone has there own and theirs is the only one that is good. I think they are all good until you start messing it up with tomato soup/sauce. THen there's clam pie. Ummmmmmmm!