Award-Winning Clam Chowder

Duke's Seafood Restaurant has six locations in the Washington Puget Sound area and is famous for their award-winning chowder.  They share the recipe and we use it to make clam chowder for dinner.

We first dice and blanch red potatoes in boiling water until they are tender and set them aside.  We next cook bacon in a saucepan until crispy and then add butter, diced onions, diced celery, and chopped garlic, sautéing until tender.  We add flour and cook to form the roux, one of Duke's secrets for a good chowder.

Lots of bacon

Lining up the ingredients

In a separate bowl, we mix clam base with clam juice and add the mixture to the roux.  We next add milk, cream, basil, thyme, marjoram (we substitute oregano), parsley, and dill, heating until almost boiling and blending constantly with a wire whisk.  The blanched red potatoes and clams come in at the end and we simmer for a few minutes.

Roux and clam base/juice

All together now

Serve and enjoy!

Appetizers

Chowder is served

Desert

One of the secrets of chowder is that (like many of our soup and pasta dishes) it is even better the next day after a "cure," when the herbs have bloomed and the flavors have fully emulsified.  We have half for dinner tonight and the rest is in the refrigerator for later in the week.