Add onion to the saucepan, stir and cook until tender. Fresh clams, potatoes, cream, and a little butter add up to one of the most famous soups in the world. Cooking Whole Clam Chowder With Live Clams We Collected on a Local Beach | Wholefood Cuisine, Seafood Sightings: October 8, 2015 | Mariner's Menu, http://www.jedidiahstolzfus.com/currier-ives-tiered-plates/, Salt and Pepper to taste. Keywords: Clam Chowder with Fresh Clams Recipe, made from scratch, fresh clams, southern recipes, potatoes. If you think it will be awhile, you might want to cover them to keep them from drying out and getting tough. Next, hit it with the wine, garlic, and thyme, and put a cap on it and boil the clams until they open. Let me know how it turned out for you, and be sure to stop by again… real soon. There isn’t much meat inside the clam shell to begin with, so save all that you can. What’s leftover, is reduced in price a bit on Sunday, and sold until they sell out. As soon as there are clams that are open wide, remove them with thongs allowing any unopened ones to remain over the heat. We kept them in strained Puget Sound water outside if it was cold, in the garage, or the basement if it was warm. Out of all the clam chowders he has had, this is his absolute favorite. I cooked batches of chowder side-by-side, using variously sized clams and found that in the end, cherrystones and littlenecks were actually superior to quahogs, offering a more tender texture. It added to the overall saltiness of the chowder, so let me just warn you now to taste your chowder BEFORE you even THINK about adding additional salt. Fresh clams are much easier to work with than you probably think they will be. Now we need to drain off the good parts, and leave any sediment that might have settled to the bottom at the bottom of the bowl. This helps to remove the sand from the clams. Discard any clams that do not open as they are not safe to eat. The clams are already cooked of course, and they don’t need to actually cook any longer. ★☆ Next, sautee bacon and onions in a large stockpot, and add the broth leftover from cooking the clams. Use a stiff brush to scrub each clam under cold running water. Fresh Clam Alternatives Ok, I get it The next best choice, canned After you’ve purged them twice, drain off the water and start scrubbing each clam. Carefully pour off the broth, letting any settlement remain in the bowl. While the clams are cooling, strain the broth removing all sediments and set the broth aside in a separate bowl. This helps to remove the sand from the clams. Just add your Email address to the Sign Up box below, or the one you’ll find in the top right corner of each page of our website. We will not add the clam pieces until the very end of the recipe, so place them back in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use them. If you’re not using fresh clams, the overall time to complete this recipe will be shorter. -Steve, Your email address will not be published. It was barely ok so I decided to Google it and found yours. Pour the broth into the sauce pot. Transfer the bacon and clams to a plate and cover with foil. After 30 minutes, DRAIN the water off the clams, and REPEAT the process at least one more time. Actually, you’ll need about 50 clams of medium-to-large size. A Tablespoon or two of liquid fat is about all you’ll need. Salt Pork was my seasoning of choice. It was a big meal to be shared by two people, and we sold a bunch of them. I thought this might make the chowder a little creamier, which it might would. Place the cubes of salt pork in a large sauce pot, one large enough to make lots of clam chowder. Don’t worry about any liquid in the shells, just pour it off into the pot. Add potato, celery and carrot plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Add clams and cover again. If you like our site, be sure to share our information with your family and friends. So, if you’re excited about making Clam Chowder from scratch, let’s get everything setup in the kitchen and… Let’s Get Cooking! There wasn’t a lot, as you can see. As the old saying goes “If in doubt… throw it out.” Better safe than sorry. Some folks add about 1/3 cup of corn meal to the salt and water they are using to purge the clams. Just let the butter melt, stir everything together well, and you’ll be almost ready to serve. This recipe has the thick, creamy broth of a Boston or New England clam chowder… Leave grease inside the pot and add garlic, onion and celery to … This New England Clam Chowder is made with fresh clams, smoky bacon, russet potatoes, and cream. It will only take a minute or two to share your comments with us in the Comment section below. Do this carefully, because their could still be some sand inside the shell. Thank you for your visit. I poured it all into this bowl and have let it cool. You’ll need about 4 ounces of salt pork. Remove open clams, one at a time, place in colander to drain. Printable recipe included. You don’t want that going into the chowder. Keep stirring them around, and don’t let the pork pieces get all dried out. Just be sure to taste it before you even attempt to add additional salt. Endorsements are always welcomed and appreciated. The trick to making the best clam chowder is using fresh or frozen clams and cooking them for just a few minutes at the end to prevent them from becoming rubbery. Place the clams and 1 cup of water in a large pot. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Required fields are marked *, Rate this recipe …. This Cajun Clam Chowder is rich and creamy, with just the right amount of Creole spices, clams, salty bacon and andouille sausage, potatoes and veggies! I use the same recipe, except for the butter. Served with Steamed Fresh Clams Making fresh steamed clams is actually really easy. Cover the pot and let it quickly come up to a rolling boil. I did find about two pieces of clam meat that had this black sand on them. New England Clam Chowder with Fresh Clams The hardest part of this recipe is finding fresh clams! I’ll look forward to seeing you on our list. That just means that I personally read each and every one of them before they are approved for our family friendly home here on the Internet. Fresh clams also have the added benefit of creating their own clam broth. I hope you will too. (Taste the chowder for natural saltiness before adding additional salt.). Turn the instant pot off and add in the garlic, salt, pepper and fresh thyme. If they overcook, they will be tough, and you don’t want that to happen. If fresh clams are unavailable (or you're running short on time), substitute two 10-ounce cans of baby clams and 6 cups of bottled clam juice. We’re not using enough of the hot sauce to actually make the chowder “hot.” Normally, we’ll serve up extra alongside the bowl of chowder. This is the broth from the pot where I steamed the clams. Thank you very much! I just made a batch this morning because most of the restaurants around here thicken their chowder with flour or add things like thyme or rosemary (yuk). I hadn’t added any actual salt to the mixture, but the combination of the Salt Pork and the brine from the clams, made it a bit salty. ★☆. At this point, I thought about getting out the Immersion Blender and running it around inside the pot for a few seconds. Fresh mollusks, like mussels and clams, must be cooked live if not purchased frozen or canned. Your comment will not appear immediately, but I’ll get it posted just as soon as I possibly can. Serve it hot, topped with pepper, if you like. The evaporated milk is much cheaper in my area though. Remove the sauce pot and the liquid from the stove top. Customers seemed to have liked it though, especially with our Captains Platter which we served up for two. I bought three pounds of live, wild caught New Zealand clams to use in my clam chowder recipe. Still want the oyster crackers to go along with it, though. If any of your fresh clams have open shells, throw them out! of work but sure appreciated your advice and the pictures. If the clams open and take in the corn meal, they spit it back out, sending sand out at the same time. Here’s a little sand that was left inside one of the clams. NOTE: Chowder Clams: 1 dozen, Cherrystones: 2 dozen, Littlenecks: 3 dozen. Keep an eye on the salt pork and don’t let it burn. Continue to stir and simmer, until butter is melted and clams are heated through. You can rinse them off with just your hands, or use a vegetable brush to help remove any dirt from the shells. Hi Diane, I’m glad our Clam Chowder recipe meets your approval. Taste the chowder. Your recipe and directions are perfection. As the clams cook enough to handle them, scoop out the meat from inside and place it in another small bowl. I’ve detailed how to use fresh clams or canned clams to make a New England Clam Add the diced salt pork. Once potatoes are tender, add the clams and simmer until the clams are cooked through, about 5 minutes for raw shucked clams and just 1 to 2 minutes for the steamed-opened clams. Good on you!!! You could dilute the chowder a bit more by adding more whole milk if this happens to you. It sure hits the spot on cold, winter nights, but I eat it in the middle of summer, too;), Your recipe is the closest to mine that I made several years ago. You’ll lose a bit of the “experience” of working with fresh clams, but you’ll still end up with a very tasty chowder. Have the person behind the counter make sure that you are getting live clams. When ready to make the chowder, begin by steaming the clams. Potatoes should be covered with liquid. Bacon could be used, but I didn’t want that smokey taste in my chowder. I just pulled the meat out with my fingers. Sign Up For Our FREE Newsletter: While you’re here, be sure to sign up for our FREE Newsletter. We’re using fresh clams, and we’ll show you how to clean them, and how to prepare them, then turn it into a really hearty clam chowder you can enjoy anytime of the year. (You’ll have to see the Crab Annie recipe for more about my being entertained by fresh Blue Crab.). Follow our easy, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe to make this delicious Clam Chowder. Clams live in mud, and they pull sand inside their shells as they breathe. That way, if you slip a bit, you don’t end up with the sediment mixed in with your chowder. Drain the sink, rinsing away any sand or debris. Place a large saucepan over medium heat on your stovetop. Creamy clam chowder made with meretrix frozen clams, chunky potato and smokey bacon. My little girl loves New England Clam Chowder. Amazingly, this was the only one that I found in the whole batch. Check to make sure all of your clams are still alive – live clams’ shells are tightly closed and won’t have cracked open. A delicious soup to have for dinner with a crusty loaf of bread. Only one of mine failed to fully open like this one in the picture, so I tossed it. The next day, I placed the fresh clams in my sink. All of the clams were closed tight, so they went back in the refrigerator, uncovered, until I could get the other items prepped for the recipe. I find that the salt pork adds enough fat. Set it aside and let it cool. The clams need to cook for about 8-10 minutes, or until the shells begin to pop open. 58.3 g Add water as needed to cover. Fresh clams are ideal, but … Too much fat will make the chowder a bit greasy once it’s finished. Explain why in just a slow simmer and so satisfying, scoop out the clams tender clams clam chowder with fresh clams! 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