Bonnies Clam Chowder New England Style Recipes

Steps:

• Place diced bacon in large stock pot over medium-high heat. Cook until almost crisp; add onions, and cook 5 minutes. Stir in water and potatoes, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender.
• Pour in half-and-half, and add butter. Drain clams, reserving clam liquid; stir clams and 1/2 of the clam liquid into the soup. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until heated through. Do not allow to boil.

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove to paper towels to drain; set aside. Saute celery and onion in the drippings until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Stir in the potatoes, water, clam juice, bouillon, pepper and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes., In a small bowl, combine flour and 1 cup half-and-half until smooth. Gradually stir into soup. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until thickened, 1-2 minutes., Stir in clams and remaining half-and-half; heat through (do not boil). Crumble the cooked bacon; sprinkle over each serving.

Steps:

• For the chowder: In a 6-quart pot lined with a pasta basket or pasta insert, bring 1 gallon salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the Potato and Chive Gnocchi to the pot and allow to cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
• In a medium saute pan set over medium to low heat, cook the bacon until almost crisp, about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until translucent, about 30 seconds. Add the clams and Clam Stock. At this point remove the gnocchi from the pasta water and add it to the saute pan. Turn the heat to high and reduce the liquid by one-third, about 30 seconds. Add the heavy cream, butter and lemon juice. Continue to cook over high heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon, about another 30 seconds. Remove from the heat and season with salt and black pepper.
• In a separate, small bowl, combine the celery leaves, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss until coated and season with salt and black pepper.
• To plate, spoon the gnocchi into a bowl and pour sauce over the top. Garnish with Crispy Shallots and top with the dressed celery leaves.
• While still hot, remove the skins from the potatoes. Pass the potatoes through a ricer or a sieve onto a clean work surface. Mix the riced potatoes, butter, olive oil, salt, pepper, egg and chives together until fully incorporated. Form the potato mixture into a square and top with the flour. Using a bench scraper, cut the flour into the potato mixture until completely incorporated. The dough should be tender to the touch and just a tiny bit moist. Do not overwork the dough or the gnocchi produced will be tough. Let the dough rest for 20 to 30 minutes, covered with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap.
• Once the dough has rested, divide the dough into 8 pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, make snakes with each piece of dough by using your hands and rolling the dough back and forth. Then, using a bench scraper, cut each length of dough into 1/2-inch pieces. One serving is 15 pieces.
• Purge the clams in cold salted water for about 2 hours. This will remove any sand and grit from the clams.
• Place the littleneck clams into a pot with the garlic, carrots, celery, onions, cracked black peppercorns, parsley, thyme and bay leaves. Cover the clams with 1 gallon water, and then cover the pot with foil. Bring to a boil on the stove until the clams have opened, about 10 minutes. Strain all the liquid and pass it through a fine mesh sieve to remove any sand. Reserve the liquid as our clam stock. Then pick all the meat from the clams and reserve for the chowder.
• Soak the sliced shallots in the milk for 30 minutes.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 250 degrees F.
• While the shallots are soaking, combine the flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne and paprika and mix thoroughly. Then remove the shallots from the milk and squeeze out all the liquid. Lightly coat them with the seasoned flour. Fry the shallots until they are a light golden color, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels and season with salt and pepper.

Steps:

• Rinse and scrub clams several times to remove as much sand as possible. Discard any clams with a broken shell. Place clams in dishpan or sink and just cover with cold water. Sprinkle corn meal over all and leave to soak for 3 to 4 hours. Rinse one final time to remove any cornmeal adhering to clams and place them in a large pot. Add 2 1/2 quarts of water and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil covered and steam for 12 to 15 minutes or until clams are open. Remove pot from heat and allow to cool. Meanwhile, heat olive oil over medium heat in a 10 quart heavy Dutch oven and add salt pork. Cook, stirring frequently, until fat is rendered and pork pieces are brown and somewhat crisp. Remove pork with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels and reserve. Add onions to pan and cook, stirring frequently until onions are soft and transparent (do not allow the onions to brown). While onions are cooking, remove clams from shells collecting liquid from clams in pot with cooking liquid. As clams are removed, rinse them in the cooking liquid to remove any additional sand and reserve. Pour cooking liquid through a strainer lined with 3 layers of cheesecloth and add to onions. Add potatoes, clam juice and if necessary, enough water to just cover potatoes. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add clams, half-and-half and pepper to taste. Cook until heated through and correct seasoning. Serve in mugs or bowls and sprinkle with reserved "cracklings." Pass oyster crackers separately.