Perfectly creamy and authentic New England Clam Chowder, without all of the guilt!
This past weekend was probably one of the most delicious weekends I’ve had in a loooong time. I mean, I’ve had a ton of amazing food, but this weekend was three long days of homemade friiiiiied goodness. Normally I steer pretty clear of fried food, it doesn’t make me feel very good. But umm, I didn’t.
It all began last week when my parents wanted us to go to Newport for the famous Rhode Island Clam Cakes. (sidebar: NOBODY makes clam cakes as good as RI. Fact.) But with a move coming up, we really didn’t want to take off for three days, but I DID want Clam Cakes. Other than this one little place in RI that I can’t remember the name of, my Grandmother makes the best ones everrrr. Like eva eva. Sooo my mom got her recipe and we decided to make our own. Then we figured well, if we’re going to heat up all that oil, we might as well throw some onions and potatoes into the mix..so came about onion rings and french fries. THEN, at the store, it was like..well, lets do chicken too. & zucchini. & mushrooms. & cauliflower. & fish. oh oh & corn dogs, definitely corn dogs. obvi. So it started.
Then people got cray. cray. (please slap me for even typing that.) crazy! Next came fried brownies.YUM! Then fresh mint leaves stuffed inside the brownies, rolled up, and fried..like freakin’ fried mint chocolate chip cookies. ohmygah. Lets take it up a notch and stuff the brownies in between graham crackers. With marshmallows. and peanut butter. Now we’ve got Fried PB Brownie Stuffed S’mores. After that, whatever people could find was getting rolled in batter and tossed in the fryer. Watermelon, grapes, strawberries…and one big huge “Fry Party” was had. Then it happened again on Monday. Soo…what I’m saying is it was like I was in fried food heaven and I probably ate my weight (plus!) in food goodness…so now I need a detox…..riiiiiiiiiiight.
This Skinny New England Clam Chowder, is my moms recipe! It is my most favorite one ever. Shes been making it, and I’ve been inhaling it since as far back as I can remember. I absolutely love it. And so does everyone I know that tries it. The recipe here, that she uses, makes quite a large quantity, but it always, without fail, gets eaten immediately. It’s a Winner! And nobody ever knows that its not loaded with cream. It’s much lighter than the typical, fat laden, NE Clam Chowder, but so much better and you no one notices the difference. I would make this for labor day if I were you! 😉
Perfectly creamy and authentic New England Clam Chowder, without all of the guilt!
Ingredients
- 4 large Vidalia Onions
- 4 chicken bouillon cubes
- 6-7 russet potatoes, washed, and chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 6-8 bay leaves
- salt and pepper
- 6 pounds Ready to use, freshly shucked, Sea Clams (with juice)
- 2-12 ounce cans evaporated milk
- Water
Directions
- Heat a large saucepan over medium heat
- In a food processor, roughly puree the onions, keeping them as coarse as possible.
- Pour them into the heated pan. Add the bouillon cubes, and cubed potatoes. Toss. Reduce heat to low and cover.
- Cook until softened, about 40 minutes.
- Once softened, using a potato masher, just barely mash some of the potatoes. Keep most of it cubed for texture, but mashing a little bit helps to naturally thicken the chowder.
- Next add water to JUST cover the top of the potatoes.
- Add the parsley, dill, garlic powder, bay leaves, and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Stir in clams, cook on medium-low for 20-30 minutes.
- Add the evaporated milk, cook until warmed through. Shut the stove off, but leave the pan on it.
- Cover, and allow it to rest for 30-40 minutes, to reduce down and slightly thicken. Serve and Enjoy!
Notes
This makes a Large amount of Chowder! You can either half the recipe, or make it all and freeze some for another day!