A Midweek meal to warm your soul
New York is the home of great cheesecake, bagels, and pizza. Baltimore’s seafood and crabcakes are worth writing home about. While Chicago is home to great steak, distinctive hotdogs, and deep-dish pizza. New England is known for lobster, lobster rolls, calamari, and chowder.
As a New Yorker, I do love Manhattan-style clam chowder with its tomato base, but I do enjoy a creamy bowl of chowdah. It’s just the right mix of brothiness from the clams, with a hint of smoke from the bacon, soft pillowy potatoes, and cream. It’s delicious.
This recipe comes from a small newspaper out of Maine. I’ve had it for some time now, and the newspaper’s title has faded. I wanted to share this recipe with a few substitutions to fit different dietary needs.
We’ve included the recipe for clam-less chowder, which is a vegan version that uses mushrooms in place of clams. The use of the liquid from soaking dried mushrooms gives the soup an umami punch. We tried to make sure there is something for everyone to enjoy, especially on a cold day with oyster crackers.
New England Clam Chowder
Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Hands-On Time: 45 minutes
Yield: 8 to 10 servings
Ingredients
- 3 strips thick-cut bacon (low sodium bacon or hickory-smoked turkey bacon)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 rib celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium-size white potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for gluten-sensitivities use gluten-free all-purpose flour, white or brown rice flour)
- 4 cups bottled clam juice, divided
- 1 pound chopped fresh clam meat, with juices
- Kosher salt to taste
- 3 cups light cream (2 1/2 cups 2% milk plus 1/2 cup half-and-half, or 1 3/4 cups fat-free milk plus 1 1/4 cups half-and-half) (non-dairy: light coconut, soy, or rice milk) **
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
Set a 4- to 6-quart pot over medium-low heat. Add the bacon and cook, turning occasionally, until crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the bacon, leaving the fat in the pot, and crumble into small pieces; set aside.
Add the butter, onion, celery, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until onions are tender and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes.
Return the bacon to the pot and stir. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the potatoes.
In a 2- to 3-quart pot on high heat, boil the diced potatoes in salted water until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Turning back to the onion/bacon mixture, increase the heat to medium-low.
Add the flour gradually, stirring continuously, until thick paste forms. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium and slowly add the bottled clam juice, 1 cup at a time, incorporating it into the mixture before adding more.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the potatoes and clam meat with its juices. Keep stirring for 5 minutes, until the clams are tender.
Add the cream slowly; then stir in the white pepper.
Discard the bay leaves before serving. Serve hot.
** If you’re using non-dairy milk, use three additional tablespoons of flour
** If you are lactose intolerant, you can use lactose-free milk
New England Clam-less Chowder
- 1 ½ tablespoon vegetable or Canola oil
- 4 tablespoons unsalted vegan butter
- 1 large onion, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 rib celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 medium-size white potatoes, peeled and cut into ¼-inch cubes
- 16 ounces of dried Porcini mushrooms, chopped (cover with hot water and let soak for 30 minutes, reserve the liquid)
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (for gluten sensitivity use gluten-free all-purpose flour, white or brown rice flour)
- 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
- ¾ pounds of sliced mushrooms (shitake, oyster, or portobello mushrooms are great choices)
- Kosher salt to taste
- 3 cups light coconut, soy, or rice milk
- 1 teaspoon white pepper
- ½ teaspoon liquid hickory smoke (optional)
Instructions
In a 2- to 3-quart pot on high heat, boil the diced potatoes in salted water until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Set a 4- to 6-quart pot over low heat. Add the vegetable oil and butter.
Add onion, celery, thyme, and bay leaves to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until onions are tender and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Increase the heat to medium-low. Add the flour gradually, stirring continuously, until thick paste forms. Stir and cook for 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to medium and slowly add the reserved mushroom liquid, followed by the vegetable broth 1 cup at a time, incorporating it into the mixture before adding more.
Increase the heat to medium-high and add the potatoes, sliced mushrooms, and liquid smoke, if using. Keep stirring for 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are soft.
Add the coconut milk in slowly; then stir in the white pepper.
Discard the bay leaves before serving. Serve hot.
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