One of my favorite things to order at a restaurant is clam chowder. I love that white creamy chowder with bits of potatoes, celery and clams. Well, actually, while I love clams straight from their shell, when they are diced up in soup I don’t really want to think about it so much. That’s why for my recipe I’m keeping half of them in their shells, which also makes the soup look very pretty and fancier.

When I was at the grocery store aisle this week buying soup I noticed a box of Swanson cream starter. I had visions of fishermen’s boats on a foggy morning in Maine and wanted to try making my first clam chowder at home. With the rest of the ingredients bought I took some inspiration from my favorite clam chowder spot on an entirely different coast, Water Grill in downtown Los Angeles.

When I was a college student, I loved trying new restaurants in the Los Angeles area which was a mecca for food of all kinds from my first Argentinean and Persian restaurants to fancy establishments in famous Beverly Hills. It was a foodie’s dream. But, I kept going back to the Water Grill because their clam chowder was the ultimate. I loved how they sliced their potatoes into thin rounds instead of chunks and left the clams still in the shell.

Making, my own clam chowder I used the recipe from the Swanson’s Cream Starter box and worked with it, removing some steps and ingredients and adding others until it became much less Swanson’s than my own. I like the Cream Started because it made things go quicker and I will return to it for my next creamy soup creation. I hope you will give it a try and it really is quick to make with a couple periods of it just simmering so you can do dishes or something in the meantime. Enjoy!

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Recipe by: Everyday Cooking Adventures, 2015
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 12-14 little neck clams, scrubbed
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 Tbsp. butter
• 2 slices thick bacon, diced (if your bacon is thin double up two slices atop each other and dice)
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• Stalk of celery (about 6 inches long), chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/2 pound red potatoes, unpeeled and cut into very thin rounds (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 4 oz. seafood stock (if needed)
• 1/2 carton (13 ounces) Swanson® Cream Starter Traditional or Swanson® Cream Starter 25% Reduced Fat
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
• Croutons as desired

Directions:

1. Place the clams and water in a 4 quart saucepan. Cover and cook on high for 6 minutes. Uncover and remove the open clams. Cover the pot again and continue cooking for another 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the open clams and set aside. Discard any clams that have not opened. Strain the liquid from the pot through a mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter and set aside. Keep half the clams in their shells and set aside. Coarsely chop the remaining half of the clams out of their shells and reserve.

2 . Heat the butter in the saucepan over medium heat. Add the bacon and flour and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the bacon to a plate but don’t drain the pan. Add the onion to the bacon drippings and cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3 . Stir in the celery, bell pepper, corn and potatoes and reserved clam juice to the saucepan. If the vegetables aren’t covered by the juice add some seafood stock until just covered and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally.

4 . Stir in the cream starter and whole and chopped clams. Season with salt and black pepper and cook for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with the bacon, parsley and croutons and serve. Enjoy!