It is the middle of June and typically we have warm weather this time of year, usually it’s very hot by now. Today it is rainy and cool. I decided to make a pot of soup. It is almost the perfect kinda day for soup…it would be perfect if it were not the middle of June.
This is one of my most requested recipes and I couldn’t be happier to share it with you. You will soon come to see how quickly you can throw these ingredients together and undoubtedly will find yourself enjoying it all year long! I usually have all these ingredients stocked and if I find I am missing one thing or another, I make it anyway. If it happens to be the clams I am missing than I just call it something else- Potato Chowder.
Ideally you want to make this, most soups and stews for that matter, the day before you actually want to serve it. This allows the flavors to mingle and develop and turns into better tasting soup. This is a simple soup really. Must haves for clam chowder are onion, chicken broth, half and half , can chopped clams, flour (or other thickening agent)and salt and pepper. Ingredients that enhance the flavor of this soup are celery, bay leaf, clam juice, potatoes and parsley. Lots of clam chowder recipes have bacon in them. I am a big fan of bacon. I do not like cooking bacon and cleaning up the mess. And who really needs the extra calories?
I like my chowder on the thick side but if you prefer a thinner broth you should use less flour when you make your soup. For a thinner chowder, I would suggest starting with 1/4 cup flour. Anytime you have finished a pot of soup and you feel like its just too thick, simply add some chicken broth or water but don’t over do it. Add about 1/4 cup at a time so that you are not constantly adjusting.
Once you feel comfortable with the process of creating soup from scratch you will find that making delicious wholesome soups doesn’t have to be complicated. A great soup doesn’t have to have tons of ingredients in order to be good In fact some of the most delicious soups I have tasted have just a few ingredients. Japanese miso soup is a great example- the miso paste is mixed with water and then 1 or 2 other things are added. Miso soup is an accompaniment to most meals in Japan so it doesn’t need lots of stuff in it. I am a big fan of uncomplicated soups.
A key to really delicious homemade soup is using fresh chicken broth. You may use other kinds of stock, of course, vegetable or seafood; however, I find I use chicken stock most often and I always have it in the cupboard. As often as I can I make my own chicken stock and that really makes a difference in all your recipes especially when you make homemade soup with it. Maybe we will save that for another rainy summer day!
Clam Chowder
- June 14, 2019
- 6 bowls
- 40 min
- Print this
Ingredients
- 2 T butter
- 2 T Olive oil
- 1/3 C flour
- 3 cans chopped clams, reserve clam juice
- 1 C chicken broth
- 1 C 1/2 and 1/2
- 1 bottle clam juice
- 1/2 medium onion chopped
- 1 small stalk celery chopped
- 1-2 all purpose potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- bay leaf
- salt and white pepper
Directions
- Step 1
- Add butter and oil to large dutch oven and set heat to medium. When butter melts add onion and celery and cook till onion is translucent. About 3-5 minutes
- Step 2
- Add flour to onion mixture and stir to combine well to make paste like mixture
- Step 3
- Add chicken broth, bay leaf, clam juice from cans and bottle and potatoes
- Step 4
- Bring to boil then reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally and don’t let the potatoes get too soft. The soup will thicken up during this time.
- Step 5
- Add the clams and 1/2 and 1/2 and salt and pepper and bring pot again to low bubble and mixture it will thicken up a little more
- Step 6
- Soup tastes best if allowed to served the next day but if you can’t wait get some crackers or toast and dig in!
