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Recipe #3: New England Clam Chowder

Now here's a recipe that can be used -- along with some nice crusty French bread -- for lunch or dinner or even for a half-time snack...  Remember those clams that I mentioned in my last article?   I had gone to the market (Jewel) looking for something else and I stumbled upon a really good bargain that I couldn't pass up -- chopped clams @ $1 per can... so  I bought ten cans of the tasty morsels.  I only used two of them to make a decent-sized batch of chowder, so that means that I wasn't going to spend much on this meal, and, I could make four more batches just like this one!  The result, using a recipe that combined my old and trusty Better Homes Cookbook with a few lessons learned from my mentor Joseph Insalago many years ago in California, was incredibly good... and just about fool proof!

shopping list:

• 2  6.5-oz cans chopped clams ($2.00)
• 3 medium-sized red potatoes, scrubbed well  (~ $2.00 worth)
• 4 slices hickory-smoked bacon (~ 1/4 pound and perhaps an average of $5/pound, or $1.25)
• 1-2 slices of medium onion, finely chopped (at most, maybe $.025 worth?)
• 1 bottle clam juice (~ $1.79)
• 1 quart whole milk (~ $1.50)
• 1 pint half & half (~ $1.79)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig (about 5" long) marjoram (fresh from the garden - cost is next to nothing) or ~ 1/4 teaspoon dried leaves
• 1-2 tablespoons sweet cream butter (~ $0.25)

Approximate total cost of the recipe: ~ $11.00 and can easily feed four people... at about $2.75 each!

Cut potatoes into small cubes or pieces.  I leave the skins on, as they add vitamins (and fiber)... and it saves me time and effort -- most folks like to peel them.  Cook the bacon until crisp in large pot; remove bacon, blot and crumble.  Drain the majority of the fat, and then sauté the onions in the remainder of the bacon fat until they are translucent.  Add clams, clam juice, milk, cream, potatoes, bay leaf and marjoram.  I add a dash of Worcestershire and a small sprinkle of cayenne pepper -- these last two ingredients are obviously optional, but I like the flavor they add.  While you are waiting for the mixture to come to a simmer or very easy boil, prepare the thickening agent.  There are several ways to thicken your chowder.  Better Homes suggests shaking flour with cold water in a jar and then adding to the chowder (in much the same way that one might thicken thanksgiving turkey gravy.  Graham Kerr (the Galloping Gourmet) would suggest that cornstarch or arrowroot works just as well, and with fewer calories, too!  I learned that  melting butter in a sauté pan and adding an equal amount of flour and cooking until the mixture has the consistency of pie crust dough and is almond in color.  It's the method I learned from Joseph, and I have always followed his instructions.  Although the caloric content is much higher, it takes less and works quicker - your choice.  Make the chowder as thick as you want; serve it in small bread bowls or with crackers in regular soup bowls.  However you serve it, this is a great Friday night meal when served with a side salad.  Or, serve it in a smaller portion and add a grilled cheese sandwich and you've got yourself a great meal!! 

 
Ralph Pancetta
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