Best Sea Hag Clam Chowder Recipes

BEST SEAFOOD CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a large soup kettle or Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon to paper towels; reserve drippings. Saute onions in drippings until tender. Add potatoes and water; bring to a boil. Cook for 10 minutes., Add the scallops, lobster, shrimp, cod and haddock. Cook for 10 minutes or until scallops are opaque, shrimp turn pink and fish flakes easily with a fork. Add the butter, salt, parsley and curry powder. Stir in milk and evaporated milk; heat through. Garnish with bacon, additional parsley, and oyster crackers, if desired.

EAST HAMPTON CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter in a large heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the onions and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until translucent. Add the celery, carrots, potatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 more minutes. Add the clam juice, bring to a boil, and simmer, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.
• In a small pot, melt the remaining 8 tablespoons of butter and whisk in the flour. Cook over very low heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Whisk in a cup of the hot broth and then pour this mixture back into the cooked vegetables. Simmer for a few minutes until the broth is thickened.
• Add the milk and clams and heat gently for a few minutes to cook the clams. Taste for salt and pepper. Serve hot.

CONTEST-WINNING NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain; set aside. Saute celery and onion in the drippings until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the potatoes, water, clam juice, bouillon, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes., In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 cup half-and-half until smooth. Gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes., Stir in clams and remaining half-and-half; heat through (do not boil). Crumble the cooked bacon; sprinkle over each serving.

THE BEST CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Put the clams in a large, heavy Dutch oven, add about 4 cups water, then set over medium-high heat. Cover, and cook until clams have opened, approximately 10 to 15 minutes. (Clams that fail to open after 15 to 20 minutes should be discarded.) Strain clam broth through a sieve lined with cheesecloth or doubled-up paper towels, and set aside. Remove clams from shells, and set aside as well.
• Rinse out the pot, and return it to the stove. Add butter, and turn heat to medium-low. Add bacon or salt pork, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered and the pork has started to brown, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove pork from fat, and set aside.
• Add the leeks to the fat, and cook, stirring frequently, until they are soft but not brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in potatoes and wine, and continue cooking until wine has evaporated and the potatoes have just started to soften, approximately 5 minutes. Add enough clam broth to just cover the potatoes, approximately 3 cups, reserving the rest for another use. Add the thyme and the bay leaf.
• Partly cover the pot, and simmer gently until potatoes are tender, approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop the clams into bits about the size of the bacon dice.
• When potatoes are tender, add cream and stir in chopped clams and reserved bacon. Add black pepper to taste. Let come to a simmer, and remove from heat. (Do not let chowder come to a full boil.) Fish out the thyme and the bay leaf, and discard.
• The chowder should be allowed to sit for a while to cure. Reheat it to a bare simmer before serving, then garnish with chopped parsley. Serve with oyster crackers.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a large stockpot bring 3 cups of water to a boil. Add the clams, cover, and cook for 5 minutes. Uncover the pot and quickly stir the clams with a wooden spoon. Cover and cook 5 to 10 minutes longer (this will depend on the type and size of the clams), or until most of the clams are open.
• Transfer the clams to a large bowl or baking dish and strain the broth twice through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, being careful to strain out the sand. (You should have about 8 cups of clam broth. If not, add enough water to bring the volume up to 8 cups.) When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove them from their shells and chop into 1/2-inch pieces. Set the clams and broth aside.
• Cook the bacon in a large heavy pot over medium heat until crisp and the fat is rendered. Pour off all the bacon fat except 2 tablespoons. Add the 4 tablespoons butter, leeks, onions, and celery and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, thyme, and bay leaves and cook until the vegetables are thoroughly wilted, about 3 minutes, being careful not to brown. Add the potatoes and reserved clam broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the broth thickens slightly and the potatoes are very tender, about 30 minutes. (If you like a thicker broth, mash some of the potatoes against the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.). Remove from the heat, Discard the thyme stems and bay leaves, stir in the clams and cream, and season with the pepper and the salt to taste.
• Set the chowder aside for 1 hour, covered, to allow the flavors to marry. Place the pot over low heat and slowly reheat, being careful not to let boil. Serve hot; garnish each bowl with a pat of butter and some parsley and chives.

CLASSIC CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Start by making the clam broth: Put a large pot over medium heat, add the bacon and saute until the fat is rendered and the bacon is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the cooked bacon pieces from the pot and reserve them for something else. Add a 1-count of olive oil, the onion, garlic, thyme, and bay leaf and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the clams, lemon juice, white wine, and water and bring to a low boil. Reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 10 or 15 minutes to steam open the clams. Remove the clams from the pot, discarding any that don't open. Strain the broth into a bowl. Pull the clams out of their shells, chop them, and set them aside separately; discard the shells. Set the broth aside.
• Heat the butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Add the bacon, onion, garlic, and thyme and cook until the bacon renders its fat and the vegetables are good and soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Dust the vegetables with flour and stir to coat everything well. Pour in the clam broth and bring to a boil. Add the cream and the potatoes, bring to a boil and boil hard for about 7 minutes, until the potatoes break down (this will help to thicken the soup and give it a good texture). Add the chopped clams and season with salt and pepper.
• Now add the 16 clams in their shells. Cover and simmer to open the clams, about 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley and serve hot, with the common crackers.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put the crushed crackers in a bowl, add the oil and melted butter, and toss to coat the crackers with the fat. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until crisp and lightly browned, about 10 minutes.
• Yield: 2 cups
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Inactive Prep Time: none
• Ease of preparation: easy