Soup Recipes from Between You and Me

Thanks to Mark from Summer Kitchen Supplies for his Clam Chowder recipe....


Clam Chowder
This is one of our family favorites. It is simple to make, and tastes so exotic on a January night in northern Minnesota. A white sauce is the foundation for many of our hardy winter meals.

¼ cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Freshly minced or dehydrated onion
2 cups milk
4-6 potatoes
Old Bay seasoning, salt and pepper
1 small can Snow’s minced clams

Peel and cube the potatoes into about ½ inch cubes. Cover in salted water, bring to a boil, and then simmer until tender, about 10 minutes.

Melt butter in a large pot. Add and cook onions until tender, if using fresh onions. Stir flour into butter to form a bubbling roux. If too thick, add more butter. Heat milk in a large glass bowl in the microwave for 2 minutes and stir slowly into roux.

About this time the potatoes should be ready. Using a slotted spoon, add the potatoes to the roux. Save the potato water, and add it to the chowder to thin it as it cooks. The starchy potato water makes a silky- smooth chowder.

Dump in the whole can of minced clams, including the juice. Crumble in a handful of onions, if you are using your own dehydrated onion. Add lots of freshly ground black pepper. Shake in some Old Bay seasoning, to taste.

While the chowder is simmering, mix together 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ½ tablespoon of sugar. Cut in ½ stick of butter with a pastry cutter. Mix in about 1 cup of cold milk and a dollop of sour cream. The mixture should be too sticky to pat out for cutting, but not too thin. Spray a large soup spoon with cooking spray, and scoop out some dough onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. There should be enough dough for 10 to 12 drop biscuits. Bake at 425 degree for about 12 minutes.

These biscuits, hot out of the oven, are much better than crackers. Clam lovers can add 2 cans of clams, but we find that one can is enough to give it good clam flavor without adding too much clam meat; which our kids are not too fond of. Vegetables may also be added to the chowder. We sometimes add a handful of our dehydrated carrots.