Clam Chowder

Ingredients

•     3 ½ pounds of Cherrystone Clams, soaked and scrubbed

•     1 Large Onion, diced

•     2 Stalks of Celery, diced

•     3 Slices of thick Cut Bacon, Diced

•     2 Tbsp of All Purpose Flour

•     1 Tbsp of Butter

•     2 Sprigs of Thyme

•     2 Cups of Diced Potatoes

•     1 Ear of Corn, kernels removed

•     ¾ cup of Heavy Cream

•     Salt and Pepper to taste

•     2 Tbsp of Fresh Parsley, chopped

Directions

    1) Add 4 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add the clams and place a lid on the pan. Cook until the clams open, this should take between 5 to 10 minutes so keep an eye on the clams to avoid over cooking them.

    2) With a slotted spoon, remove the clams to a bowl and using a sieve that’s been layered with either coffee filters or a few layers of cheese cloth, strain the clam liquid into a bowl making sure not to get any of the liquid from the bottom of the pot (that’s where the sand sinks).

    4) Set the strained liquid aside and take all the clam meat of the shells and chop the meat into bite size pieces, set them aside.

    5) In a large pot that’s been preheated over medium heat, add the bacon and cook until the bacon gets crispy and renders all its fat. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon (if the bacon renders out too much fat, get rid of some of it and leave behind just a couple Tbsps) and add the onions and celery, thyme and cook until the veggies have cooked down and become translucent.

    5) Add the butter and flour to the veggies and cook that for about a minutes making sure to stir the whole time.

    6) Add the potatoes, corn and about 4 cups of the clam broth to the veggie mixture and let it come to a boil and simmer for about half an hour or until the potatoes are nice and tender.

    7) Add the chopped clams, heavy cream, salt and pepper and parsley and cook for about 2 more minutes.

    8) Remove from heat and either serve immediately or cover and let it sit for about 10 minutes and the soup will thicken more as it sits