If you’ve been a follower of Garlic & Zest the last few years, you know my loathe of football and that the Super Bowl is pretty much the only day that this sport gets any love from me. My reasons are two-fold: 1. These two teams have clawed, fought and overcome deflation to get to this day and they should be recognized for their efforts. 2. It’s the last game of the season — football widow no more — Yay!!!
And since I don’t really care about the game itself and food is my motivating factor in pretty much EVERYTHING I do, the only way I can make this an interesting day is to focus on the food… and not your standard game-day-fare. No. We make dishes that are indigenous to the areas in the country where the teams are from.
As the playoffs ensue, my husband, Scott, keeps me up to speed on which cities (um, teams) are in contention for the title — and we start making our short-list of foods that match up to those cities. Wisconsin — I was gonna make my own brats… Pittsburgh — it was gonna be pirogies (I was saying silent prayers not to be Pittsburgh) Houston was going to involve some kind of barbecue… and Seattle – I was going to come up with something new, because I’d already made those salmon sliders.
Instead we ended up with New England and Atlanta — two very delicious food cities, IMO. Today, I’m focused on the Patriots – and an Authentic New England Clam Chowder. This doesn’t involve clams from a can, although you’re welcome to go that route if you find yourself in a pinch on game day.
There are no surprises in this chowder, just a luxuriously, buttery, creamy — dare I say, bacon-y broth that’s loaded with fresh chopped clams and tender potatoes. I bought my clams at our local fish market and I may have bought one of their stellar smoked fish dips as well… I came home and cooked and photographed and sampled, swooned and photographed some more… Then I invited taste tester and friend, Nola, over to join Scott and me for dinner — where we went through two bottles of wine and about half of this pot of soup. Goody, more for later…
Stay tuned…next up is the menu plan for the Atlanta Falcons…
Authentic New England Clam Chowder
Ingredients
- 7-8 pounds clams Cherrystone, about 1 1/2-2 dozen large clams, scrubbed of grit
- 4 cups cold water
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 pound bacon thick cut, chopped
- 2 stalks celery finely diced
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 2 1/2 pounds yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut into half inch dice
- 1 tablespoon thyme fresh or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons water cold
- 1 cup heavy cream
For garnish
- 1/4 cup celery tops (the leaves) chopped
- 4 strips bacon crisped
- 1 cup oyster crackers
Instructions
- Place the scrubbed clams in a heavy stock pot and add 4 cups cool water. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and bring the water to a boil. When water begins to boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 8-10 minutes, until clams open. Use a pair of tongs to transfer the clams to a baking sheet to cool.
- Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl and pour the clam juice through the sieve to remove any grit. Reserve the juice.
- Clean and dry the pot and place it back on the stove over medium high heat. Add the butter and swirl it in the pan until it melts. Add the chopped bacon and cook 8-10 minutes or until crisp. Use a slotted spoon and transfer the bacon to a dish lined with paper towels. Add the chopped onion and celery to the hot grease and cook until tender and translucent, about 6-8 minutes. Stir in 6 cups of reserved clam juice, potatoes, thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.
- In a small dish combine the cornstarch and water and stir into a slurry. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the soup and heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Cook for one minute until broth thickens slightly. Stir in the clams, three quarters of the bacon and the cream.
- Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped celery leaves, remaining bacon and oyster crackers.
Nutrition
Previous Game Day Fare:
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- Chili Aioli Buffalo Sliders
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- Don’t Cry For Me Argentina Roast Beef Sandwich
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- New England Clam Chowda Pizza
I know many people eschew bacon in their chowder, but I’m not one of them. It tastes good and that’s what counts. That said, I’m not the food police and you can certainly skip it.
Not sure why some of the others are saying it’s not authentic. I live in New England and have al my life (50+ years). I lived in Massachusetts, Maine and now NH. And although most home cooks do not use thickeners or bacon a lot of New England restaurants do. And yes we do use celery, not sure why that one person said we don’t. We also use little neck clams, steamer clams and quahogs.
You may be a great cook…..but putting BACON? in clam chowdah, then calling the recipe “authentic”, is borderline blasphemy!!! NO new englander will ever put Bacon in their chowdah!
Don’t knock it ’til you try it!
You are a GREAT cook! Your recipes are inspiring, fresh and healthy! Wow! Thank you for sharing your love, light & fabulous culinary talents.
I was looking for a good lobster bisque recipe, which led me to your website. I’m having so much fun browsing your recipes. Great website, definitely one to bookmark!
Thank you so much, Ellie! I appreciate your very kind words. Let me know if there’s something in particular you’re looking for — there’s a lot more cooking to do!
Having grown up in Newport, RI, I think I’m qualified to correct you as far as the words“authentic New England “when it comes to clam chowder. First, we don’t use celery and we use quohaugs otherwise known as
“Chowder clams”. We don’t even use thickeners
as most non New Englanders do. You can call it NE clam chowder. just don’t call it “ “Authentic”.
That’s what you get when a non New Englander makes it… in any case, it IS delicious!
How can you stir in 6 cups of reserved clam juice if you only reserved four cups of it LOL
To clarify – did you only keep four cups of juice, or are you supposing that with only 4 cups of water, you won’t get 6 cups of clam juice? When I first made this soup, I actually purchased extra clam juice — just in case I needed it. I didn’t. The clams give up a ton of briny liquid.
This clam chowder with fresh clams is seriously calling my name! It looks absolutely luscious, and that glorious thick cut bacon: be still my heart! I’ve tried to jump on the wagon and learn about football, but I too, usually end up only watching the big game (and even then, I’m usually there for the food, haha.) A bottomless bowl of this in front of me, I’d be very happy to watch alllll the football! 🙂
The only thing I like about football is the food and an excuse to eat!
First of all, I love your little tradition here. I’m pretty ambivalent to football in general, but I’ll tune into the Super Bowl some times… ESPECIALLY if there’s a party with food involved. I love a good clam chowder, and I’d eagerly tuck into a bowl of that spectacular soup (can you call it a soup? Is that sacrilege?) with gusto. Here’s hoping that next year’s two combatants continue to provide you with such incredible inspiration.
Truly looks delicious. You created layers of flavor beginning with your saute. I really like how chunky you cut the other ingredients. This clam chowder is a stick to your ribs meal. YUM!
I love this idea! I totally ignore football all year too, and then use the Super Bowl as an excuse to eat. But your strategy is a little more clever- I love that city idea!
And clam chowder is pretty much the best thing eva’!
‘Eva!
I love clam chowder but have never been brave enough to make it at home! I definitely need to try your recipe out.
This isn’t one of those recipes to be afraid of — this one is super straight-forward!
This is definitely fancier than most sports day foods I’ve ever had!
I don’t know about fancy, but it’s really good!
OMG my granny makes this for me all the time! I need to share this recipe with her !
Lisa! You’ve done it again! Every time I visit your blog, I want to eat all the food. This chowder looks to-die-for! And it is also my husband’s very favorite soup. I’m totally making this, soon!
Thank you, Kristine! I appreciate that! This is a really tasty chowder and I hope your husband enjoys it!
I do not like the Pats at alllllll but this soup recipe makes it almost worth having them in the super bowl! Yum! The photos are gorgeous, too.
Well, I’m glad to give you a reason to grudgingly accept their participation on Sunday. Personally, it’s just about the food for me.
Haha, I am not a football fan either! My mom and I used to hide in her bedroom and watch really girlie movies while my brother and dad watched the superbowl. Now I am married to an English guy, and did you know there are Rubgy games and tournaments YEAR ROUND! No reprieve 🙂 But he actually records the games and watches them mostly after I go to bed. Recipe looks amazing!
Rugby — YEAR ROUND? OMG!!! You poor thing. You need to hole up in that bedroom with a pot of this chowder…
What a pretty dish of chowder! Beautiful pictures and wonderful ingredients. Another great post.
I appreciate that — thank you for the compliment! If you like chowder, this is a good one.
WOW! I love seafood and it is summer in New Zealand right now so it is the perfect timing to have fresh clam and try your recipe 🙂
Indeed, this would be the perfect time for you to try it!
Oh my gosh that looks good! I haven’t had this in over a decade now. Time to remedy that. 😀
Glad you like it, Kat! Let me know how it comes out for you!
I’m embarrassed to admit — I’ve never had clam chowder! Maybe the Super Bowl will give me a good enough excuse to finally bit the bullet and give it a try! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
How have you never had clam chowder? Seriously.
This looks amazing!!! Hubby is a big fan of the game and clam chowder. I’m curious what the menu would be if Miami had made it, tho…
Miami is such a diverse food town, it probably would have had seafood with tropical and latin flavors — But Miami in the big game hasn’t happened for a while.
I’m kind of like you Lisa when it comes to Football..It’s all about the food and I only watch usually the Superbowl. This chowder is a perfect for the Patriots!
I know a lot of women who are really into football. I’ve tried, but I just can’t get into it. That said, I recently saw an interview with Herschel Walker and it turns out he’s a math genius — as in MIT math genius! Call me impressed! I wonder if he likes chowder…
I can almost smell the wonderful flavor of this chowder through my computer screen. Looks so good!
I’m glad the photos evoke that sense for you! We eat first with our eyes, don’t we?!!!
My dad is from New England and I know he misses authentic clam chowder! I might have to make him this 🙂
Let me know how he enjoys it!
I can see myself enjoying this for dinner! Love the pictures! drooling!
Those clams look so pretty! And what a cool idea to theme up gameday food for the playing team cities! I can’t wait to see what you make for the Atlanta Falcons (Go Falcons!) 🙂
Tina – I just finished the post for Atlanta — and you’re gonna love it!
Wow – this soup looks delicious! I reside in Patriots land and would love a hot bowl of soup during the game.
I imagine the Super Bowl frenzy is reaching new heights this week where you are!
I love that you cook recipes from the cities the teams are from, that’s such a fun idea! We don’t have American football here in the UK but I say any excuse to cook up something new 🙂
You’re not missing much with American Football (although, I’ll probably be beaten for saying so) – but the one thing we can all agree on is good food!
I have happy memories of eating this by the water when I visited Maine. I really need to try making it myself.
I’ve always wanted to take a trip to Maine in the summer… one of these days…
Yum … I’m coming to your house for the Superbowl. Clam chowder is one of my favorite soups and there is nothing like homemade with fresh clams. This recipe is a keeper. Yum.
Thanks, Ali! We’d love to have you on Sunday!