Clam Chowder

“I love clam chowder. I am always on the look out for the best clam chowder recipe. I found this one from Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto in Berkeley, CA, a long cherished seafood restaurant in the Bay Area that has since closed.” – April Ferre

Clam Chowder

Course: Main Courses – Fish & Seafood, Soup

Ingredients

  • 6 Slices Bacon Chopped
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter Divided
  • 1 Cup Flour
  • 1 Onion Chopped
  • 1/2 Cup Celery Diced
  • 4 Cups Seafood Stock
  • 4 7-Ounce Cans Chopped Clams
  • 2 1/2 Cups Yukon Gold Potatoes Diced
  • 1/2 Teaspoon Dried Thyme
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
  • 1/8 Teaspoon Pepper
  • 1/4 Teaspoon Salt
  • 1 Cup Heavy Cream
  • 1 Cup Half & Half

Instructions

  • Cook potatoes until tender. Set aside in large bowl.
  • In Dutch oven over medium heat, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and set aside with potatoes.
  • In the same pan, add 2 Tablespoons butter to bacon drippings. When butter has melted, make the roux by adding flour and cooking on low heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove roux from pot and set aside.
  • Add the remaining butter to the pan and sauté onions and celery until softened. Remove to bowl with potatoes and bacon.
  • Return roux to pot and add seafood stock and juice from clams. Raise the heat to high and cook, stirring frequently for 6 to 8 minutes until thickened.
  • When thickened, add clams, potato mixture, seasonings, heavy cream and half and half. Simmer about 10 minutes. Serve with sourdough bread and butter.
  • This recipe makes a relatively thin soup. If a thicker soup is desired, thicken with flour/water mixture.

2019 Recipe – April Ferre – Adapted from Spenger’s Clam Chowder recipe