SEATTLE'S BEST CLAM CHOWDER

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Seattle's Best Clam Chowder image

I kinda picked up this recipe when I first started out as a cold pantry cook. I worked at this place called The Brooklyn in Seattle. Now having never made the chowder, but only prepped certain components, I built this recipe in my head based off what I saw and tasted every day. You may be thinking, "I have never heard of Seattle Clam Chowder. Only New England and Manhattan chowders." Well let me tell you, that in Seattle, downtown restaurants live and die by their chowder. This is a recreation of one of the best I have tried and or made. Oh, one other thing. This recipe is a scaled down version of my recipe from back when I was the Sous Chef at a hotel. Sometimes scaling down a huge bulk recipe doesn't convert just right, so you may need to adjust some seasoning to your own taste, and check out any restaurant supply places that are open to the public if you have trouble finding the clam base. Good Luck and enjoy. New edit. reduced salt and white pepper. Edit again. So I finally got around to making this in my home kitchen. It turned out great. You can find the clam base online. I think I bought a tub of it from Amazon. Use Minor's brand. This second edit is to scale it back to a more reasonable level. Who really needs almost 3 gallons of chowder? In the end I think you'll find that the trouble to get a hold of the clam base and to track down that much clam juice and canned clams will pay off in the end. You'll have a great chowder that you can sub out the clams, clam base and juice and make a chicken corn chowder. Or whatever you feel like.

Provided by ROV Chef

Categories     Chowders

Time 1h10m

Yield 21 8oz bowls

Number Of Ingredients 14

1 leek, chopped and rinsed
1/2 cup celery, chopped and rinsed
1 1/2 lbs red potatoes, diced
1 quart clam juice
8 (10 ounce) cans baby clams (with the juice)
2 ounces clam base
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 ounces blond roux (by weight)
1 quart heavy cream
1/2 ounce dried thyme
1/2 lb bacon (peppered is nice)
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Steps:

  • Dice up bacon into small pieces and render in a large stock pot over med-low heat.
  • Once bacon has started to turn brown, add the onions and sprinkle with the 1 oz of salt.
  • Once the onions get soft and start to turn brown, add the leaks and celery, turn up the heat to med-high and sauté for a couple of minutes until they get tender.
  • Add the potatoes, clam base, chopped clams, clam juice, and the thyme.
  • Bring to a low simmer, and maintain the simmer until the potatoes are cooked.
  • Add the heavy cream and bring to a gentle boil.
  • When it starts to boil, add the roux 2 oz at a time, letting the chowder come back to a boil before adding more roux. Make sure you are stirring the entire time here.
  • When all the roux is added or the chowder reaches the thickness you like, add the remaining salt and pepper to your taste.
  • Please taste it before you add any additional seasoning. Don't add it all just because it lists it in the ingredients. I put the numbers in because I had to and I don't remember just how much to add.
  • I recommend serving with some good thick sliced sourdough bread and a few drops of green Tabasco sauce.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 341.8, Fat 22.9, SaturatedFat 12.2, Cholesterol 108, Sodium 508.6, Carbohydrate 16, Fiber 1.2, Sugar 2.3, Protein 17.7

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