Clam Chowder is a heavy cream soup that easily can be a meal in itself. This recipe is roux based, which leads to a thicker and creamier soup. Since I live in the desert Southwest where fresh clams are a fantasy, this recipe uses canned clams, which is good since the clam juice is used in the soup stock.
Ingredients
- 2 (10 oz.) cans chopped clams in juice
- 8 oz heavy cream
- 16 oz chicken stock
- 16 oz. potatoes – peeled and diced into 1/2″ cubes
- 2 TBL unsalted butter
- 3 TBL all-purpose flour
- 1 onion – finely diced
- 2 celery stalks – diced into 1/4-inch pieces, leaves reserved
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 TBL red wine vinegar – optional
Process
- Mise en Place – measure and prepare ingredients prior to starting
- Drain juice from clams into sauce pan and add onion, celery, potatoes, and bay leaves. Cover with water and cook over medium heat until tender (~20 mins).
- Make Roux
- Melt butter in sauce pan then add flour and stir. Cook roux until it’s lightly toasted.
- Add a little stock to roux. It will stiffen, but keep stirring as you add a small amount more, careful to work out the clumps.
- Repeat step two until all the stock has been added and there are no lumps in the mixture.
- Add cream to roux and then add the cooked vegetables along with the water. Simmer but do not boil.
- Season with salt a pepper to taste.
- Add clams just before serving. If the clams cook too much they get tough.
- If the soup seems a little flat, can add up to 2 TBL red wine vinegar after clams are heated.
- Garnish with chopped celery leaves.
