Clam chowder is an absolute NW staple. We have everything from Ivar’s to the small delicious restaurants of places like Ballard. That being said I have a few great ways to make a savory, creamy and positively hearty clam chowder; my favorite being with razor clams from Long Beach Wa. We take a trip from Seattle down to Long Beach at least a few times a year. We call it a pilgrimage because it’s quite a trek but we always end up having the best time there and in Astoria where we always end up at Fort George Brewery for their exceptional beer and menu. Recently though my fiancée and I visited my parents at their house on Whidbey island. After a few beverages and some good laughs, we filled up a few red solo cups and took to the beach with their dog Baxter. My mom as you may not know adores sea glass so we were in a heated competition to find a piece of blue glass, the winner was going to be awarded a prized shot of Makers and the ultimate sea glass bragging right.

As we were scouring the beach and of course talking a big game we began to come across a few mahogany clams. My dad was telling us some of their neighbors grow them in bags and occasionally they break off and the clams or even oysters are sprinkled across the beach. We figured that had to be the case because a big storm had just past a night or two ago and they had all washed up with the tide. So we started another game of who could find the most (armed with shellfish licenses of course). While all the time still looking for that prized piece of sea glass and maintaining an eye on Baxter who to be honest is kind of handful. He doesn’t listen when distracted but his dopey, cute face makes it hard to get too annoyed with him. As it worked out we got around a pound and a half and Spencer my fiancée ended up winning the glass competition. So win win right?

When we returned, I had convinced the group to have clam chowder for dinner despite my mom’s extreme hesitation, this was due to a previous clam incident in which we cooked them in a beautiful white wine sauce and a small crab was living in coexistence with the clam in its shell. This made her visibly freaked out. We didn’t tell her there were several baby crabs in the pot when we cooked these clams.. soo shhhh.. she will actually throw up.

Mahogany is a great clam but you can use manilas which are much easier to come by or are like my mom and don’t like small invaders. Another option is to use canned clams, though if you choose this route make sure they are of good quality otherwise I think the flavor is lacking and becomes very umm I suppose low tide tasting. I suggest looking for clams packed just in water and maybe a little salt.

 

Clam Chowder recipe:

·       5 cloves garlic

·       I medium shallot

·       2 large red potatoes diced

·       I carrot peeled and diced

·       I lemon

·       2 cups celery

 

·       About 2 pounds clams

·       About 3 cups (homemade preferred) fish stock

·       3 cups cream

·       2 bay leaves

·       1 stick butter unsalted

·        8 oz clam juice

·       1 bunch parsley

·       Thyme to taste

·       Salt and pepper to taste

·       1 t red pepper flakes (more if you like it spicier)

 

·       ¼ bunch chives (garnish)

·       Pinch of parmesan (optional)

 

·       ½ cup flour for roux

·       1 stick butter unsalted

 

Fish stock:

These reflux diseases are the situational dysfunctions created when the digestive acids of our stomach have exceeded beyond the determined level in order to act as a PDE5 inhibitor, the body enzyme that plays the character to develop suitable body conditions to cause impotency in men and lead a successful erotic life that makes you feel online levitra complete. This female sex booster works generic viagra usa very similar to the genuine sildenafil citrate pills but cheap in prices. Treatments for hair loss in men ordinarily contain anti androgens or DHT inhibitors or blockers. discount cialis Testosterone raising supplements are additionally accessible in the online viagra mastercard business as it has been dealing the top lifting equipment manufacturers across the world.
Bones and skins of salmon (other fish work too this is just my preferred)

Dungess crab shells

veg extras (skins, tops and leftover bits)

Shells of the clams

Water

 

This recipe is pretty straight forward there’s just a few steps to prep all the veg and then you really just throw it all together and let it become bubbly, rich and delicious. If you are making the stock remember to throw all your veg scraps in a pot to boil with the bones and shells. It’s not required to make the stock you can buy it but it really does improve the flavor having your own. If you don’t have fish bones you can usually ask you butcher at the grocery store if they have any, they sometimes do and they are very inexpensive. For the stock just throw all your veg scraps, bones and shells in the pot (I even toss the lemon rinds in) then cover with water and let it simmer for at least an hour but the longer the better I boiled this one for two to extract all that great flavor.

Ok so, I start by chopping the garlic fine and the shallot as you would a normal onion just a small dice. The potatoes I don’t peel because I like the color and texture of the red skins. I try to dice them small and fairly uniform for ease of eating on a spoon and still getting lots of the other delicious bits on there too. For the carrots, I peel them and just rough chop them to around the same size I don’t care too much about perfect carrot squares in my chowder but if that’s your thing hey go for it and small dice them, it will make you feel happy eating those cute little cubes. Next is the celery. I chop them small and include the tender leave inside the celery as well. I slice the stalks length wise and then dice them up. I then just rough chop one bunch parsley minus the stems. After that set all your vegetables aside except for the garlic and the shallots. I begin by sweating those in a large stock pot. Melt a stick of butter on medium heat in the pot and then add the garlic and shallot. (mmm). I now like to put the flour in and stir the butter and garlic up in it to create a roux, which is essentially flour thickened in fat to create a thickener for the whole chowder. Let that come together until it begins to brown lightly. Next I put all the rest of the vegetables in, as well as the clam juice stir and let them cook for a few minutes while you steam or boil the clams. To do that simply put your live clams into a pot or steam them over a pot of boiling water until they open. Discard any that do not open. Then separate the clams from their shells and cut them up into the size you like in your chowder. I went for a medium fine chop. Throw those on in the pot as well. From here your stock should be close. So strain out the liquid and measure out about 3 cups and pour it in. I then add the cream, bay leaves, parsley, another stick of glorious butter (I never said this was healthy), the thyme and pepper flakes stir it all up. I wait till the end to add the salt and pepper because as the pot boils your chowder will be reducing to thicken and if you add the salt now it could be too salty. Let it boil 30-45 minutes stirring often to avoid sticking on the bottom. This will finish cooking the vegetables to tender and thicken up the chowder. Add more flour if you want it thicker just be sure to mix the extra flour with a fair amount of water to reduce the chances of flour lumps in your final product unless you like clam dumpling chowder. Funny story, we ran out of flour and all we had was some sourdough bread so I just cut it up small and let it dissolve in the pot. It thickened beautifully and had an added tang and depth. This is a trick I saw on the travel channel from Italy so I can’t really take to much creative license for that one. After its all thick add the salt and pepper to taste stir and ladle into a bowl. Garnish with chives and serve with bread or oyster cracks. Enjoy!