Hi everyone, Jess here.
I could have taken a way better picture of this, but I was in a bit of a rush. My dear Nan had a fall and is in rehab with a broken wrist at the moment, and I wanted to bring her a dish that she taught me to make. There are a few adaptations I’ve made, one is that she uses a piece of salt pork in hers, while I opt to use bacon ends from the farm. She also uses fresh steamed clams, I used chopped clams from the Jordan Brothers pickup on Saturday. You’ll find that it’s a pretty flexible recipe. When you’re making it, the amount of onions looks overwhelming, but really does add to the flavor in my opinion. I leave out the extra salt, but that’s just because Nan has to watch her sodium content. If you happen to be making this during a time when you have fresh thyme sprigs available, I find them to add a yummy extra layer of flavor.
At the end of the recipe, you can add in heated light cream. Adding it while it’s hot keeps the consistency “creamy looking”. When I’m in a rush and don’t care as much about aesthetics, I’ll just add room temp light cream and bring it up to temp with the rest of the chowder. I find either method does not effect the taste.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Bacon ends, diced (to add up to about 2-3 slices of bacon)
- 2 large onions, diced
- 4 medium potatoes, diced (yukon gold are good)
- 16 oz fresh/frozen chopped clams (available at the Jordan Brothers stand)
- 2 bottles clam juice (2 cups worth total)
- 2 cups water
- 2 tablespoons Amish Roll Butter
- Salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste
Fry up your bacon ends in a large pot with a little bit of olive oil to prevent sticking. Cook until the bits are brown and you have a layer of fat in the pan. Remove the bits with a slotted spoon.
Add the potatoes and onions to the pan and cook in the fat until the onions become translucent. Add in the clam juice and water and bring to a low boil.
When the potatoes are a minute or two from tender, add in your clams (if using raw chopped). Once the potatoes are tender, add in your light cream (heated is preferable), butter, and salt/pepper to taste. (If using cooked clams, now is the time to add them). Warm on low heat if needed, and serve!
I know the dollop of butter looks sinful sitting in this pot of cream, but it really makes a difference. Enjoy!