New England Clam Chowder

***Updated to add recipe. Sorry about that!***

I was hoping my husband would blog this recipe, since it's really his, but alas, it's become my task.

This was our first time making clam chowder, and as usual, it was an adventure. He found a recipe in The Joy of Cooking and thought it would work. We even made a trip to Wegman's in hopes of finding all the wonderful goodies he wanted to add. (We weren't impressed with Wegman's, and could have gotten everything we settled for at our local grocery store rather than driving the 20 minutes. Anyway.) He wanted to use fresh clams, but they didn't have any. We tried fresh herbs for the first time (and how confused we both were by how to prepare/use the thyme!) And oh how my kitchen stunk (I'm not a seafood fan!). But my husband thought it was a good recipe, and we had fun together in the kitchen, so that's all that matters.

New England Clam Chowder (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)
Makes 4-6 servings.

3 c. water
3 t. seafood base [1][2]
4 cans clams (6.5 oz. each)
2 T. butter + 1 T butter
1 medium onion, cut into 1/2 inch dice
1/2 t. chopped thyme [2][4]
1 T. chopped parsley [3][4]
1 bay leaf
1 T. all-purpose flour
2 c. diced (1/2 inch) new potatoes[5]
1 c. heavy cream
black pepper


Boil water; add base according to directions on package. Set aside. Drain clams, reserving liquid; coarsely chop clams to be equal sized pieces, about 3/8 inch.[1]

Melt 2 tablespoon butter in soup pot. Add onion, 1 tablespoon butter, thyme, and bay leaf.[4] Cook until the onion is translucent, stirring frequently.[3] Add flour and still until blended and lightly colored.

Add the base liquid and up to 2 cups of reserved clam liquid. Add potatoes and bring almost to a boil; reduce head and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 12 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Stir in chopped clams along with heavy cream. Simmer for 5 minutes; do not boil. Season with black pepper to taste.[6]

Notes:
[1] We specifically used clam base to make seafood stock. You could certainly substitute chicken or other broth or stock.
[2] We used 1-2 fresh sprigs of thyme and just stripped the stem.
[3] I coarsely chopped a small handful of parsley-it was more than the recipe called for.
[4] I didn't add the bay leaf until after the flour and right before the stock--I'm always afraid of breaking it and causing a bad situation.

[1] Checking the clam pieces for size consistency.

[2] I've never used base before, but it worked out great (and I found out later that unlike bouillon, base has no MSG).

[3] Sauteing the garlic
(in a huge stockpot, because we wanted to prevent a mess!).

[4] Fresh parsley and thyme.

[5] Cubed white potatoes.

[6] New England Clam Chowder.