Saturday, January 06, 2007

Clam Chowder!!!





Ok, pics looks like they're all out of order again. Sorry about that. I try uploading them in the order in which they're supposed to happen, and then this blogger rearranges them all wonky on me. *sigh* Maybe one day I'll have time to play around with it. Not now though.

So, here's my Clam Chowder recipe.

Dice then fry up 1 pound of bacon in large dutch oven. Remove bacon and most of the drippings, leaving about 1/4 cup drippings still in the pot. Dice up 1 onion and 1/2 celery heart, lightly salt (though I forgot this step last night) and saute till translucent. Dice up (bite-size chunks) 3 scrubbed but unpeeled potatoes & toss into pot with onion & celery. Drain 2 cans of chopped clams, reserving the juice. Pour clam juice over the potatoes, and then top with enough chicken stock (I use the good quality store-bought stuff) to cover the potatoes. Cover with lid & simmer about 20 minutes, or till potatoes are tender, but not mushy. If needs be, take the top off the pot & simmer some of the broth down (you want room in the pot for the half&half). At the last minute you're going to want to add in at least 1 pint of half&half (or cream, if you REALLY wanna heart-attack) and the clams. Give it a stir to heat the clams & half&half, but don't boil (or clams will become rubbery). Ladle into bowls, top with a handful of crumbled bacon, and enjoy!

I go really light on seasoning, usually just a dash of salt & pepper to taste. The bacon & onions & clams have soooo much flavor you really don't want to do too much, or you'll take away from the simplicity. And this makes a big ol' dutch oven full of soup, enough for about 6 servings or so (depending on how much you put in each bowl). As you can see, it's not a terribly thick & creamy soup, it's got half & half, but it's not extremely heavy. It's just perfect. And it really is best right off the stove-top. It's good the second day, but it's best fresh.

To store, stir in any remaining bacon, & refridgerate. Reheat carefully & slowly.

Oh, and in case anybody looks at those pictures and thinks "That looks like a heck of a lot more than 1 pound of bacon" or onions, or celery, etc.... That's because I doubled the batch so DH could share some with his best buddy. *grin*

****************************************************************

Well, gotta go get ready to go out. DH decided that in celebration of his new job (he's warehouseman for a local chemical company), we're going out to one of our favorite resteraunts for dinner. They've got incredible nachos that'll feed a family, for VERY reasonable prices. I mean, they fry up the tortilla shells when the nachos are ordered, top with your chosen toppings (chicken, beef, or no-meat, cheese, fresh tomatoes, onions, olives, jalapeno slices, sour cream, guacamole), stack another tortilla shell & more toppings, then cut into wedges. Last time we were up the 3 of us ate & were full (ok, we did have desert, also) for 11.95 for this huge platter of nachos. For the 3 of us to eat well, and enjoy the meal (and a drink each, including DD's "Shirley Temple") we spent just under 30 dollars with a 5 dollar tip. Anyway, it's been over a year, so we're going up tonight for nachos at Ivory Jacks. YUM!

See ya!!!!

Have a Blessed Day!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm a big fan of clam chowder and sometime when I make clam chowder I also will make bread boat and serve the soup in them.

Anonymous said...

Oh Ive got the munchies now...

And congrats on the new job D.H.!

Anonymous said...

The clam chowder looks yummy delicious! MMMMMMM...
oh... and I guess when we were looking for someplace to go out to eat while we were up there, we should have/could have tried Ivory Jacks... I didn't even think about it. Oh well... next time? Love ya... Mom

Anonymous said...

The clam chowder looks yummy delicious! MMMMMMM...
oh... and I guess when we were looking for someplace to go out to eat while we were up there, we should have/could have tried Ivory Jacks... I didn't even think about it. Oh well... next time? Love ya... Mom

Anonymous said...

That looks so good! It is a cold and rainy day here and a bowl of that would hit the spot.

Kati said...

Peppy, I've never had the energy to make bread boats. LOL Though I do like making bread, I really only do one major cooking job at a time. If it's clam chowder, I don't have the energy for bread. ;)

Dirk, thanks!

Mom, I don't know if you & Shelli would like Ivory Jacks. Well, Shelli might, I'm not sure about you. They've got the full range of food, from bar-food appetizer-munchies, to Steak & Crab & racks of ribs, soups, and fancy-ish deserts. But it's an open sports-bar type place, and not non-smoking, though one side of the place is "non-smoking" while the other "bar" side is "smoking. But being one big room, there's smoke anyway. But, the food IS good!!!! Just don't order the deserts, as my creme brulee (not even all that great) last night was 9 dollars for a little dish of it. *sigh*

Whim: Well, now you've got a good recipe for it!!! Hope your cold & rainy weather clears up!!

Anonymous said...

Doh, now I've got the munchies again...

You gotta change the post.

I can't keep running downstairs to the kitchen everytime I stroll in here.

Anonymous said...

Just droppin by to say thank you for making a Princess happy on her special day.

We had a simple celebration, but you guys made it special.

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting my blog...it led me to your place! And it is always nice to find another blogger of the pagan persuasion. I haven't come across many so far.

By the way, I love clam chowder. Anything with a pound of bacon in it has got to be good! When should I arrive for dinner??

Anonymous said...

I luv clam chowda, too...and to re-arrange your pics, all you have to do is go to 'Edit HTML' mode. Then, cut and paste the HTML for each pic in the order you would like it to be. Hope that helps.

Cheers from Boston=:)