Ranch Clam Chowder Recipes

CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Place the clams in a pot large enough to hold them comfortably and cover with water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain the clams and rinse with cold running water several times. (You can do this up to 7 million times and you will never remove all the sand. Let this be a lesson in life to you.)
• Place the cleaned clams in a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot and add enough wine to go about halfway up the clams, about the whole bottle. Tie the thyme, oregano and bay leaves in a bundle and add to the pot. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and steam until the clams open completely, 15 to 20 minutes, or about 8 minutes after the liquid boils. Once the clams are all opened, remove them with a slotted spoon to a sheet pan to cool for a few minutes. Strain the clam broth through a fine strainer, reserving the liquid.
• Put a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the olive oil. Once heated, add the guanciale and prosciutto and begin to render, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove some pieces of crispy prosciutto for garnish, if possible. If not, move on. Add the onion, garlic and celery to the pot and gently sweat over medium-low heat until they begin to soften up, about 3 minutes. Add the diced potatoes and cook to allow more fat to render from the prosciutto and guanciale and for the vegetables to fully soften, another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove the clams from the shells and chop roughly; don't turn them into dust-big pieces are good. Add the clams and the Calabrian chile paste to the potato pot and add about two-thirds of the reserved clam broth. Let the chowder begin to gently heat up and come to a simmer. Once at a simmer, add the heavy cream, more or less depending on your desired taste; for brothy, add a smaller amount of the cream. Always taste the batch; it may need a touch of sea salt, it may not-some clams are saltier than others.
• To serve, place a well-proportioned ladle of chowder in a bowl and garnish with some celery leaves, reserved crispy prosciutto (if any) and cracked black pepper.

RANCH CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat, add onions, and cook for 5 minutes, or until translucent.
• Stir in the seasoning mix, cream of potato soup, half-and-half, and liquid from the clams until well-blended. Cook uncovered until heated through, but not boiling, then add the clams.
• Season with pepper, to taste. Serve hot. (For a pop of color and freshness, garnish with chopped parsley.)

CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Wash and scrub the clams to get rid of the dirt. Set the littlenecks aside in the refrigerator, and combine the cherrystone clams with the water, garlic, bay leaves, and thyme leaves in a large pot. Cover, and steam over medium-high heat until the clams have all popped open, about 15 minutes. Check every 5 minutes to pull out the clams that have opened (some take longer than others), and give the pot a stir. Pull the opened clams out of their shells and chop them roughly. Cover them and set aside. Pour the broth into a big bowl through a strainer that you've lined with cheesecloth, just in case there is leftover sand; set the broth aside.
• Rinse out the pot and melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancetta, celery, and onion. Saute this together for 5 minutes, until the vegetables soften. Sprinkle the flour into the pot; stir and coat everything well. Gradually pour in the strained clam broth, whisking constantly to break up any lumps of flour. When all the broth is incorporated, fold in the potatoes, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly for about 15 minutes. The soup will start to thicken from the potato starch.
• Reduce the heat to low and fold in the cream, milk, and chopped clams. Toss in the littleneck clams and cover the pot to let them steam open, about 5 minutes. Season the soup with many turns of freshly ground black pepper and stir everything together to heat through, but do not let it boil. Serve this in nice big bowls with some chopped parsley and Parmesan Oyster Crackers.
• Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
• Chop garlic cloves then sprinkle with some salt and smash to make a paste. Set a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add butter, oil and garlic and swirl pan. Add oyster crackers and chopped flat-leaf parsley and toss to coat. Spread out on a sheet tray, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with shredded Parmigiano. Pop into the oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until golden and crispy.
• Yield: 2 cups

RANCH CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In 3-quart saucepan, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onion is soft but not browned.
• Add mushrooms and Worcestershire sauceand cook until mushrooms are soft and pan juices have almost evaporated.
• n medium bowl, whisk together half-and-half, potato soup, wine and salad dressing mix until smooth.
• Drain clam liquid into dressing mixture; stir into mushrooms in pan.
• Cook, uncovered, until soup is heated through but not boiling.
• Add clams to soup; cook until heated through.
• Garnish each serving with parsley.

NEW ENGLAND CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Stir in the flour to distribute evenly. Add the stock, juice from 2 cans of chopped clams (reserve clams), cream, bay leaves, and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring consistently (the mixture will thicken), then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are nice and tender. Then add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes.;
• Melt the butter in a large skillet and toss the bread cubes in the butter until browned and toasted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add parsley and season with salt and pepper.;

CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• First, shuck the clams and remove the bellies. Clean the clams and then chop them into small pieces. Put to the side until ready to add to the pot.
• Heat the butter in a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the celery and sweet onion and cook, mixing often, until they begin to soften. Next, sprinkle in the salt, black pepper and seafood boil seasoning. Add the self-rising flour to make a roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Stir in the clams and clam juice.
• Meanwhile, cook the bacon and finely chop. Add to the pot. Add the potatoes along with the scallions. Stir to combine. Lastly, add the milk and half-and-half. Stir to warm. Serve in a bowl with parsley as a garnish.

MY BEST CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
• Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
• Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.

COCONUT CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• Melt the butter over medium-low heat in a heavy-bottomed large saucepan. Add the flour and whisk until completely incorporated. Cook, whisking continuously, until the mixture turns from white to blond, about 5 minutes.
• Add the onions, celery and bell pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme and bay leaf and cook 1 minute more.
• Add the broth and bring to a boil. Stir in the white potatoes and white sweet potatoes and let the liquid return to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low so the liquid simmers and cook until the potatoes begin to soften, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Stir in the clams and coconut milk. If using frozen and canned clams, add the frozen first, then allow the soup to simmer again before adding the canned clams. Bring the soup back to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat, discard the bay leaf and garnish with parsley.

QUICK CLAM CHOWDER

Steps:

• In a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients EXCEPT parsley.
• Heat through, stirring occasionally.
• DO NOT BOIL.
• Garnish with parsley.