Manhattan Clam Chowder

Or is it PA Clam Chowder? You may have read in a previous post that we were recently on vacation in Maryland and did some clamming. We didn't have much luck with finding the little necks so we brought the long necks home to make chowder.

It's rare that I have all the ingredients for a new recipe and where we live, running to the store for a few things consists of at least 45 minutes time. Needless to say, I make a lot of adjustments and additions to use what we do have on hand.

Here is my version of Manhattan Clam Chowder. It will most likely be different next time.

Use fresh, frozen or canned vegatables. If fresh, saute for 5-10 minutes before adding to the pot. Frozen and canned vegatables and tomatoes can go in a few minutes after the potatoes start to boil.

2 Onions
3 peppers (any variety you want)
1 turnip
1 kolorabi
garlic (as much as you want)
3 bay leaves
Oregano, thyme, crushed red pepper, parsley, black pepper (I don't bother with measurements, whatever looks good goes here!)
3 cups or so diced potatoes
1 cup chicken stock
3, 4 or more tomatoes
corn
8 pounds of clams

Saute fresh vegatables (onion, pepper, turnip, kolorabi, garlic, corn) for about 5-10 minutes.

In 4-6 cups of water cook cleaned clams until they open, (if they don't open, don't eat them) When all clams are done and out of the water, ladle out as much of the water into your stock pot. This is your broth.

While bringing the water to a boil, add chicken stock, potatoes, vegatables and seasonings. Add water if the soup is too thick or salty. Chop clams and add to soup when vegatables are tender. If you allow the soup to sit an hour it will get better.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.