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Cape Breton Clam Chowder

Added by nancymcchlery | Sun 21 Jun 2009 @ 21:50

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Great for after work -- 25 minutes from start to finish. Known in the US as New England Clam Chowder, this is a fast and tasty main dish chowder that is very satisfying, especially in cold weather. It goes together in minutes and you can determine the thickness and the calories by the type of milk or cream you use and whether or not you thicken with flour or cornstarch. This recipe has been in my family for at least four generations.

Ingredients
4 medium potatoes

1 stalk celery

1 medium onion

4 slices bacon

2 cans baby clams (or fresh)

1 litre milk

salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Peel and chop potatoes into half inch pieces. Put in saucepan with water to cover and cook until tender.
2. Meanwhile, chop bacon, celery and onion into quarter inch dice.
3. Place in frying pan and cook until bacon is done. Make sure nothing burns.
4. Drain potatoes. Add bacon and veggies and clams.
5. Add milk to top up pot. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Heat through -- make sure it does not boil or the milk will separate.
6. Serve with garlic bread.

Optional: Kernel corn can be used in place of clams to make Corn Chowder or added to the clam chowder to make a more filling meal.

tried this recipe or a similar one? share your tips...

1. by Camille Toews on Fri 02 Sep 2011 @ 14:20

I use a couple of tablespoons of olive oil instead of the bacon to keep down the cholesteral content, and cook the potatoes with the water from the clams, then rinse before putting into the clery/onion mixture, along with a tablepoon of butter to coat the potatoes.I find microwaving the milk on medium before adding to the celery & onion mixture also keeps it from curdling, and speeds up the overall cooking time. I then let the mixture simmer until it starts to thicken a little. ( you may grate a few cooked potates to add a natural thickening)<br /> At the end of cooking, I will add a tablespoon of butter to give the chowder a nice color.