The Dirty D (New England Clam Chowder Recipe)

Oh yes, The Dolphin Restaurant--my glory days. I worked there two summers (on the wharf) back home in Santa Cruz, CA.  It's a cute little diner-like restaurant at the very end of the wharf. The location isn't prime because most tourists are too fat and lazy to walk all the way to the end. But The Dolphin definitely has its own personality, thanks to all of its employees--there's a whole lot of personality in there! I miss it, but I don't miss it. The fishy smells wafting through the air, the sea lion orgies, obnoxious tourists. Mmm and of course that greasy-fishy-fry oil coating everything in the teeny tiny kitchen. Seriously, there's nothing yummier than coming home after a long day of work and just reeking of chowder stench. You know when you hop in the shower after you go to a bonfire and the smoky smell is really strong? Imagine that...but with clam chowder...steamy clam chowda showa--scrumptious! To make a long story short, clam chowder is just one of those things I can't stand anymore. And I was never a shellfish eater to begin with, so the smell of that stuff is hard for me to inhale.

I guess it's been a while though, so maybe the occasional piece of chowder-dipped bread is okay (just not the actual clams!). And the smell definitely brings back memories. So I can't completely hate chowder. It has sentimental meaning to me. So when my teacher, Chef Leake, announced that we'd be making New England and Manhattan clam chowder I felt a little disgusted, a little excited, but mostly nostalgic. And even though I find the smell of the clam juice (BARF) absolutely revolting--I make damn good chowder.

There's New England clam chowder, a cream or milk based chowder, with clams, potatoes and onions. This is the white chowder. I personally think this one is better than Manhattan. Maybe because it has less clams. Then there is Manhattan clam chowder, it is more like a clam stew. It is tomato-based, so it has no milk products, and is filled with more potatoes, onions, leeks and clams...blah! Clams! :( I'll give you step by step instructions on how to make both! And I'm sorry if you like clams and I'm hurting your feelings, but you'd understand if you smelled rotting wharf fish that much in your lifetime (okay I'm still young and there are probably people who are worse off, but that smell really really got to me!).

I'll start with New England clam chowder. 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 strips bacon, cut into about 1/2" pieces (it's easier to cut bacon if its frozen!) 
• 1/2 C onion, medium dice cut (1/2" pieces)
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 C peeled potatoes, medium dice (choose a waxy potato, mealy potatoes will lose their shape)
• ~3/4 C clams (you can choose whether you want more or less)
• 4 C clam juice
• 1.5 C cream (you can also use whole milk)
• 2 T butter, room temp.
• Worcestershire sauce
• Salt & pepper 

(Yeah! I converted that recipe into cups and stuff for all of you normal home-cooks! You're welcome!) 

My mise en place. It is so much easier to pre-cut and measure everything before you begin! 

First off, put your cream into a small saucepan and heat on the stove over a medium flame. Don't be afraid of your cream curdling. Dairy products are already pasteurized so there is not reason for your cream to curdle--and if it does, that means it is rancid and you shouldn't consume it anyways. Make sure to try the cream before you cook with it! Just a tiny spoonful. 

Now, let that cream simmer! Its gotta heat up so that it won't drastically bring the soups temperature down when its added. Just keep an eye on it because you don't want it to boil, a low simmer is good.

Sorry mom, but clam chowder has bacon in it. BACON! Yum. Don't get too excited now. You need to blanch the bacon before you fry it. So take your medium dice bacon pieces and put it in your soup pot along with some water (1" of water is good). Put it on high heat and let it cook. The bacon is done when the fat turns white and you can see the pieces of bacon are firmer. By blanching the bacon, it won't stick to the pan when you're frying it and it will also keep its shape better. 

blanchin'

Drain the water out once the bacon is blanched. You won't need the bacon water so just dump it down the sink (if you don't want to waste it though, you could use it for a soup!). Now that the bacon is blanched, it is ready for frying! Add a drizzle of oil (any kind of oil really, but we used salad oil because it doesn't add any other flavor) to the pot. Use just enough oil to coat the bacon. Cook on a medium-low heat. Cook the bacon until it is "breakfast brown," meaning it is evenly browned and tasty like the bacon you'd eat with your eggs! 

When the bacon is nice and browned, take it out of the pot and reserve for later. Keep the bacon fat in the pot though! We're gonna use that as our oil to cook the onions!

Yup yup now add the onions to that bacon fat! 

Sweat the onions, or in other words, cook them until they are translucent. DO NOT BROWN THEM. We don't want any color on our onions because this is a "white" soup. Brown chowder? Yuck. 

Now you are ready to make your roux. So dump your flour into the pot! For a white chowder we want to have a white roux (do not brown the roux!). Once you see the edges turning kind of white and you smell a pie-crust-like smell--its done. 

Oh joy, it's clam juice time! Add the clam juice slowly. You can use a ladle to make it easier. Start with one ladle-full. Then slowly add more. Each time you add a ladle-full, stir until it's lump-free. If you don't, you'll have floury lumps in your soup, yuck. 

If you add the liquid slowly and stir out the lumps after each addition you don't even need a whisk! 

Now remember this: do not scrape the edges of the bowl. Now that we added liquid, you'll notice that the edges might get a little crusty and develop color. This will happen even more when you add the cream. But do not scrape the edges! Remember, we don't want brown chowder--this is a white chowder! 

Clam juice is in! Time to add the potatoes and clams. Just dump em' in there and stir it up. 

Stir it up, stir it up!

Remember that cream you have heating up in a saucepan? Yay its ready to be poured into the chowder! So go ahead and add the cream.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. There should be movement in the pot! If it's just sitting there, you're only keeping it warm--not cooking it. Simmer simmer simmer. But don't let it reach a rolling boil. And remember don't scrape the sides. Stir occasionally, don't let the soup burn on the bottom of the pan. 

Almost done! 

Sorry, I think I ran out of pictures. But I'll be clear about what to do next.

Once the soup has thickened a little and the potatoes are cooked it is almost finished!

Taste your chowder. Does it need salt? Pepper? (We used white pepper in class, but use black pepper if you want) And add that worcestershire sauce (just a dash or so). Are the potatoes done? 

If it's tasting good to you and you think its done, it's probably good!

BUT HOLD UP.

BACON!!!!

Remember those lil bacon pieces you cooked earlier? Add them in. Then we're gonna do some fancy stuff.

Monte au beurre

That little bit of butter at room temp. It's time. Whip out yo whisk. With the balloon of your whisk, scoop up the butter so it's trapped in there. Now quickly whisk in the center of the pot in counterclockwise motion, switch to a clockwise motion, then switch again, keep doing that until the butter is allllllll melted in there. 

WOO! You did it! Do a final tasting to make sure it's seasoned to your liking and serve that chowda. 

Yum yum yum clammy goodness.