Best Spring Hill Ranchs Clam Chowder Recipes

CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place the clams in a pot large enough to hold them comfortably and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain the clams and rinse with cold running water several times. (You can do this up to 7 million times and you will never remove all the sand. Let this be a lesson in life to you.)
• Place the cleaned clams in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot and add enough wine to go about halfway up the clams, about the whole bottle. Tie the thyme, oregano and bay leaves in a bundle and add to the pot. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam until the clams open completely, 15 to 20 minutes, or about 8 minutes after the liquid boils. Once the clams are all opened, remove them with a slotted spoon to a sheet pan to cool for a few minutes. Strain the clam broth through a fine strainer, reserving the liquid.
• Put a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once heated, add the guanciale and prosciutto and begin to render, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove some pieces of crispy prosciutto for garnish, if possible. If not, move on. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pot and gently sweat over medium-low heat until they begin to soften up, about 3 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and cook to allow more fat to render from the prosciutto and guanciale and for the vegetables to fully soften, another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the clams from the shells and chop roughly; don't turn them into dust-big pieces are good. Add the clams and the Calabrian chile paste to the potato pot and add about two-thirds of the reserved clam broth. Let the chowder begin to gently heat up and come to a simmer. Once at a simmer, add the heavy cream, more or less depending on your desired taste; for brothy, add a smaller amount of the cream. Always taste the batch; it may need a touch of sea salt, it may not-some clams are saltier than others.
• To serve, place a well-proportioned ladle of chowder in a bowl and garnish with some celery leaves, reserved crispy prosciutto (if any) and cracked black pepper.

SPRING HILL RANCH'S CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• 1. In a large stock pot over medium high heat, cook the diced bacon until almost crisp. Add the onions and cook 5 minutes. Stir in the clam juice, chicken broth (or water), and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender.
• 2. Remove about 3 cups of the potatoes to a medium mixing bowl and add 1 1/2 cups of the half and half. Using an immersion blender, blend the mixture until smooth. (This can also be done in a blender or food processor.) Return the mixture to the pot.
• 3. Pour in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of half-and-half, and add the butter and cayenne pepper. Stir in the drained chopped clams and baby clams. If the soup needs to be thinned, do so by adding some of the reserved clam liquid. If the soup needs to be thickened, mix a couple Tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of the reserved clam liquid, stir it in and bring the soup just barely to a simmer before turning the heat down again. Cook for about 5 minutes to make sure everything is heated through. Do not allow to the chowder to come to a full boil.

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.

CLAM CHOWDER WITH SPINACH AND DILL

Steps:

• Put clams in a large deep skillet and add 4 cups water. Cover tightly with lid and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-high and continue cooking until all clams have opened, about 5 minutes. Remove lid and let clams cool. Shuck clams, discarding shells, and reserve in small bowl. Strain broth through a fine-meshed sieve. You should have about 3 1/2 cups clam juice. Keep warm over low heat.
• Put olive oil and butter in a wide heavy-bottomed soup pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and leek, season with salt, pepper and cayenne, and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add celery, bay leaves and thyme sprig and cook for 5 minutes more.
• Meanwhile, bring 1 cup water to a boil in a small pot. Cut bacon crosswise into 1/2-inch lardons. Simmer lardons for 2 minutes, then drain. Add lardons to soup pot, along with potatoes. Season generously, stir to coat and cook for 1 minute.
• Add 3 1/2 cups warm clam broth and bring pot to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until potatoes are tender, about 7 to 10 minutes. Check seasoning.
• Just before serving, add reserved shucked clams, stir in spinach and heat through. Stir together crème fraîche and lemon zest and season to taste. Ladle soup into wide bowls. Add a tablespoon of crème fraîche mixture to each bowl and sprinkle with dill and scallions.

RANCH CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In 3-quart saucepan, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onion is soft but not browned.
• Add mushrooms and Worcestershire sauceand cook until mushrooms are soft and pan juices have almost evaporated.
• n medium bowl, whisk together half-and-half, potato soup, wine and salad dressing mix until smooth.
• Drain clam liquid into dressing mixture; stir into mushrooms in pan.
• Cook, uncovered, until soup is heated through but not boiling.
• Add clams to soup; cook until heated through.
• Garnish each serving with parsley.

MY BEST CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
• Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
• Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.