New England Clam Chowder
Thick, creamy white chowder with tender clams, potatoes and crispy bacon, served with oyster crackers.
Recipe in testing: I'm cooking it in my TM7™ and will update the steps and the photo with my own.
New England clam chowder is the creamy one: a thick white soup of potatoes and tender clams in a milky broth, with bacon for a smoky note and a handful of oyster crackers on top. It comes from the coast of Massachusetts and Maine, and it turns two cans of chopped clams into a cozy dinner.
The Thermomix® TM7™ chops and sautés the onion and celery, cooks the potatoes in clam juice on reverse so the cubes stay whole, and warms the milk, cream and clams below a boil, which keeps the clams tender. The bacon crisps in a skillet on the stove. A few fresh clams in their shells are an optional, pretty finish.
Made in the Thermomix® TM7™
New England Clam Chowder
Makes: About 1.7 L (7 cups)
- Prep20 min
- Cook40 min
- Total1 h
- Serves4
Ingredients
Optional garnish
To serve
Instructions
- In a skillet on the stove over medium heat, cook the bacon 6 to 8 minutes, until crisp. Lift it onto paper towels and save 15 g (1 tbsp) of the fat.
- Place the onion and celery in the mixing bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5. Add the butter and the bacon fat and sauté 4 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1.
- Add the flour and sauté 1 min/120°C (250°F)/speed 1. Add the juice from the cans and the bottled clam juice and mix 10 sec/speed 4, so the flour dissolves.
- Add the potatoes, thyme, bay leaf and pepper. Place the simmering basket on the lid instead of the measuring cup and cook 15 min/100°C (212°F)/reverse/speed soft, until the potatoes are tender.
- If using fresh clams, place them in a skillet with 60 g (1/4 cup) water, cover and cook on the stove over medium-high heat for 5 to 7 minutes, until they open. Throw away any that stay closed.
- Add the milk, cream and drained chopped clams to the mixing bowl and cook 6 min/90°C (195°F)/reverse/speed soft, until hot. Do not let it boil, or the clams turn tough. Remove the bay leaf, taste and add salt if needed.
- Ladle into bowls and top with the bacon, parsley and the steamed clams, if using. Serve with oyster crackers.
Tips
- Clam juice is salty, so always taste before adding salt at the end.
- Want it thicker? Press a few potato cubes against the side of the bowl with the spatula and stir, or let the chowder rest 10 minutes before serving; it thickens as it cools.
- The chowder keeps 3 days in the fridge. Reheat it gently, without boiling. It does not freeze well, because the potatoes turn grainy and the cream can separate.
