The Traveling Epicurean

New England Clam Chowder on “CT Style” with Teresa Dufour!

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New England Clam Chowder on “CT Style” with Teresa Dufour!

Every month I look forward to cooking on CT Style! I get the opportunity to do live cooking segments with Teresa Dufour, show you all how much fun cooking can be, and gather together with my WTNH friends to eat and catch up afterwards. You see “it all starts with the food”, gatherings and friendships that last a life time, not to be cliché, but it’s priceless.

Yesterday, I featured my New England Clam Chowder recipe highlighting a couple of secret ingredients, Amontillado Medium Cream Sherry and Wondra Quick Desolving Flour. It’s a chowder packed full of flavor that you can make 12 month of the year.

It was so nice to have my friends, Carolyn, Chris and their son, Jonathan, as guests in the channel 8 studio. Teresa, sweetheart that she is, asked if I wanted to invite Jonathan on camera for the last 20 seconds of the cooking segment and Jonathan jumped at the chance. He did a great job up there, he was a natural!

There’s actually three important ingredients I can’t live with out in my in my New England chowder, the Amontillado Sherry, Wondra Quick Dissolve Flour and a bouquet garni. Adding the sherry goes without saying bringing in tons of beautiful, subtle flavor. The Wondra Quick Dissolve Flour creates a silky texture with out making the chowder glumpy or pasty. I sprinkle in 3 tbsp of Wondra right when the cream begins to simmer. I use this Wondra flour in stead of making a roux at the beginning letting you control the consistency better. The bouquet garni consists of sprigs of rosemary and thyme tied up with string for easy removal when it’s done infusing all that lovely flavor into the soup!

This New England Clam Chowder is perfect during thsese cold winter days! Here are some other comfort foods you may want try like Eggplant Balls, Guiness Braised Short Ribs, Oysters in Pernod Sauce, Pasta Fagioli or maybe a Chocolate Pecan Pie for dessert!

 

 

 

       

   

Ingredients (NOTE- Quantities can easily be halfed OR quartered …it’s still delicious!):

  • 6 cans “Snows” clams – 5 “chopped” clams & 1 “minced”
  • 5 Bottles “Snows Clam Broth = 6 cups broth (5 cups bottle + 1 cup comes from the cans after you drain the clams)
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup half and half
  • 3/4 cup good dry cream sherry -(the pink one) Spanish Dry Sherry “Amontillado” is one of my favorites (1/4 cup to de-glaze onion/celery and 1/2 cup to simmer with broth base)
  • 2 slices minced bacon (smokey flavor ONLY not maple)
  • 3 extra lg potatoes or 4 small diced to 1/2″ size
  • 2 celery stalk finely diced
  • 1 whole sweet onion finely diced
  • 1 bunch fresh rosemary & thyme tied with string … just a flavor bundle – to be removed
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp finely ground pepper
  • 3 tbsp of “Wondra-Quick Dissolving Flour”

Directions:

  1. Finely chop 1 whole onion
  2. Finely chop 2 celery stalks
  3. Slice 3 slice of smoked bacon, then dice that
  4. Add diced bacon to large pot and begin to sauté on low, just want the bacon to become slightly crispy
  5. Add in chopped onion and celery and sauté until lightly golden
  6. De-glaze with 1/4 cup dry cream sherry
  7. In 1 minute add in diced Yukon potatoes and all the clam broth from cans and bottles and 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp salt
  8. Bring to a simmer and cook for 12-15 minutes until the potatoes are tender but FIRM because the potatoes will continue to cook even after you take them off the heat
  9. Tie off a bundle of fresh rosemary with cotton string
  10. At the 5 minute mark of simmering the potatoes ADD in the rosemary bundle and 1/2 cup of dry cream sherry and bring back to a low simmer
  11. At the last 2 minutes of simmering the potatoes ADD in 3 cups of heavy cream, 1/4 tsp finely ground blk pepper and possibly 1 tsp more of salt (you need to taste here to see if your chowder needs this addition of salt) and bring back to a low simmer
  12. Take the New England Clam Chowder base off the heat and gently stir in all the clams
  13. Remove the the rosemary bundle and the bay leaves and serve with Tabasco and oyster crackers
  14. If this is for the following day cool chowder completely at room temp allowing space with the cover for the soup to evaporate, place in frig
  15. When re-heat the soup watch carefully not to bring to a boil …just heat thru…mmm! Enjoy!