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Creamy Cape Cod Clam Chowder

Source of Recipe

From "The New England Clam Shack Cookbook"


Recipe Introduction

"At Land Ho! in Orleans, on Cape Cod, they brew up enormous vats of their famed clam chowder — upward of 450 servings at a time — but the chef generously shared a drastically scaled-down recipe so that something akin to their chowder can be recreated at home. The chowder is a classic in the mid-New England (especially around the Cape and Boston) style — creamy, lightly flour-thickened, and full of briny chopped hard-shell clams."

List of Ingredients

◦  5 tablespoons butter
◦  1 large onion, chopped
◦  ¼ cup all-purpose flour
◦  3 cups whole milk
◦  2 cups bottled clam juice, or a combination of clam liquor and clam juice
◦  2 cups water
◦  5 cups diced all-purpose potatoes (1½ pounds)
◦  2½ cups chopped sea clams or quahogs
◦  ¼ teaspoon celery salt
◦  ⅛ teaspoon celery seed
◦  ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
◦  1½ to 2 cups heavy cream
◦  Salt and white pepper


Recipe

In a large soup pot, melt the butter. Cook the onions over medium heat until softened, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle on the flour and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

Add the milk, clam juice, and water, whisking until smooth. Add the potatoes, clams, celery salt and seed, and garlic powder and simmer until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes.

Stir in enough cream to make a thick (but not too thick) and creamy chowder. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside at cool room temperature for at least an hour before serving or refrigerate for up to 2 days. Reheat gently.


Makes 8 to 10 first-course servings;
4 to 6 main-course servings