Red’s Cape Cod Clam Chowder
Recipe yields: 1 gallon of chowder (between eight and 12 portions)
Ingredients:
- 1 pound fresh chopped littleneck clams
- 2 cups clam juice
- 1 cup Chablis wine
- 1 bunch celery diced small
- 1 large celery root diced small
- 1 large Vidalia onion diced small
- 5 cloves garlic sliced thin
- 4 large Maine potatoes diced ¼” by ¼”
- 1 pound Portuguese chorizo diced small
- ½ 3 apple smoked bacon diced small
- 1 bunch fresh thyme
- 4 fresh laurel leaves (bay leaves not dry)
- Kosher salt to taste
- Fresh ground black pepper to taste
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- 2 quarts extra heavy cream
- Tabasco to taste
Method:
You will need a heavy gauge pot with a thick bottom
Begin by sautéing the bacon, chorizo, onions, celery and garlic together with the butter
Take the thyme and fresh bay leaves and wrap them with cheesecloth (this is a called a bouquet garni.) Add the bouquet garni and cook until bacon and sausage have been rendered down and the vegetables are translucent and tender.
Add the flour and continue to sauté until flour is completely incorporated in the fat of the pan
Add wine, clam juice and potatoes and cook on low heat for about 30 minutes. The potatoes should be tender and the liquid reduced by half.
Add the cream, salt, pepper, Tabasco and chopped clams. Cook for another 20 minutes on low heat.
Check seasoning and serve with a few littlenecks lightly steamed in the shell, some toasted bread and a nice chilled glass of a buttery Chablis or Chardonnay. Enjoy!
