New England Clam Chowder

My husband loves seafood! And especially loves clam chowder. Unfortunately, he is married to someone who's affection for seafood doesn't extend beyond canned tuna and frozen fish sticks. However, he is very lucky that his wife is happy to cook things he likes, even if she doesn't.  Which brings us to today's recipe - clam chowder.

This is the New England variety, the creamy kind. Not the Manhattan version with a tomato/vegetable broth.  And no, despite being from the Boston area, I do not say "chowdah".
(sore spot with me).

Now, you might be thinking it's just easier to open up a can of it, or get it only when you go out to eat. But really, it's not so hard at all. Trust me! I use canned diced potatoes to make it even easier. Yup, you can substitute fresh potatoes, but really, they taste the same and it saves a lot of time and effort.

Ingredients:

4 slices of thick slab bacon, cut into small pieces
1 medium onion, chopped (I prefer shallots, but it's a matter of taste)
2 stalks celery, chopped
One tub of choped clams from the fish counter (they only come in 1 size at my supermarket)
OR - 2 (5 ounce) cans baby clams, with juice reserved
2 cans diced potatoes, drained
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of potato soup
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 bay leaves
Clam juice as needed (I used one 8 oz bottle)
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

 1 Add bacon to sauce pan and cook on medium low heat until crispy.
 2 Add onion and celery and cook until onion is translucent. (I added a pinch of salt)
 3 Add clam juice from container/both cans. (added bottle of clam juice)
 4 Add potatoes.
 5 Cook and cover until potatoes are fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
 6 Stir occasionally so potatoes won't stick.
 7 Add soup, cream, milk and bay leaves.
 8 Stir together.
 9 Add butter and let melt into the chowder.
 10 Cook for about 30-45 minutes or until thickened.
 11 Stir occasionally.
 12 Add clams. Stir occasionally until clams are heated.
 13 Add salt and pepper to taste

That's all there is to it. My hubby couldn't eat enough of it!

Enjoy :)