New England Clam Chowder

From Kathleen's Kitchen:

Ingredients

4 pounds of hard-shell clams, well scrubbed

1/4 pound salt pork, finely diced

 

1 large onion, chopped

 

2 cups clam broth

 

2 medium-sized boiling potatoes, peeled and diced

 

4 cups whole milk, scalded

 

salt and pepper to taste

 

1 tablespoon butter

 

Let's put it all together now

 

Put the clams in a pot and cover them with water.  With the lid on tightly, steam them over medium heat until the shells open completely.  Reserve 2 cups of the broth, straining it through a sieve lined with a double layer of cheesecloth. moistened and squeezed out.  Coarsely chop the cooked clams; make sure the hard parts are minced.  Over low heat, slowly render the salt pork in the pot until crisp; reserve.   Soften the onion in the fat in the pot.  Add the potatoes and strained broth and cook until the potatoes are just cooked through, about 12 minutes.  Return the clams and pork cracklings to the pot and add the scalded milk.  Cook the chowder over very low heat--the milk must not boil--for five minutes or so.  Season with salt and pepper.  Just before serving, melt the butter in the chowder and ladle it into warm bowls.  Makes 4 servings.

 

Author: Kathleen Costanzo