I love New England Clam Chowder. But to make a large pot of chowder from scratch requires scrubbing, steaming, and shucking about eight dozen clams—something I’m no longer up to.
A local New York City fish monger solved the problem for me by selling minced clams by the pound. They were delicious and worked perfectly in my recipe. Unfortunately when the pandemic began, they stopped selling them and have never resumed.
I feared I would never make another home-cooked New England Clam Chowder. Then I learned about quality canned clams, which I previously thought were unspeakably awful.
Bar Harbor makes perfectly fine chopped canned clams, dispelling my reluctance. In fact, their clams have been rated Number 1 on multiple surveys. Five of their 6.5-ounce cans are exactly what I need for my recipe.
The Procedure
Get a quarter-pound chunk of high-quality bacon and chop it into small dice. In a large Dutch oven, cook the bacon over low heat until it renders all the fat.
Sauté the bacon to render the fat.
If the bacon is very lean and renders little fat, add a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil, because you will need enough fat to cook the vegetables. Raise the heat a bit to brown the bacon pieces. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a side dish, leaving the fat in the pot.
While the bacon is cooking, chop the onion and the celery into small dice.
Dice the celery.
Cut off the dark green parts of two small leeks, saving only the light green and the white parts. Cut a two-inch cross in the greener end, and wash thoroughly under cold running water, separating the layers to be sure all the sand is removed.
Chop the leeks.
Add the vegetables to the bacon fat and cook several minutes over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are softened.
Cook the vegetables in the bacon fat.
In the meantime, drain the canned clams in a sieve over a large bowl, saving the liquid.
Drain the liquid from the canned clams.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables, stirring for a couple minutes until the flour begins to color.
Cook the flour.
Gradually whisk the in the reserved clam juice, as well as two bottles of clam juice. I use Cento brand.
Bottled clam juice.
Simmer until the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Add the reserved bacon pieces, along with a bay leaf, fresh thyme, and dried savory.
Cook the herbs with the broth.
In the meantime, peel and cut the potatoes into a very small dice.
Dice the potatoes.
Add them to the simmering liquid. Cook until the potatoes are tender, but still hold their shape.
Whisk in the heavy cream, then stir in the chopped clams and the parsley.
Add the clams.
To Serve New England Clam Chowder
Return to the simmer. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as is or with oyster crackers.
