Homemade Clam Chowder

To tell you the truth I didn't think I could do it! I really thought it wouldn't turn out. I guess I have been so used to buying it in the restaurants and in the can, I never thought of trying to make it myself.

Well the other things is that I never had fresh clams, to even think about making it:) I can't take all the credit...my brother in law, pulled the recipe off the Internet. We made sure we had the spices we needed the night before, and yesterday he handed me the recipe and the fresh clams were in the fridge.

So reluctantly, I proceeded to make my first pot of homemade clam chowder. I have to admit, I drug my feet. Because first I fried up the bacon, made some salad, then some cheese and garlic bread. There was some leftover salmon in the fridge from the night before, so I thought maybe I could get away with not having to make the soup. Well time drug on, and they didn't get home when I thought, so I got out the pot, and put some water in it.

Slowly, I followed the instructions, still not sure if it was going to turn out. To my amazement it did! Do you believe it, it taste just as good or better than the restaurant. I was shocked and in awe, it was so good! The guys loved it, so I decided I had to share it with the hub-community:)

There are a couple of things I did different, from the recipe. First off, I used turkey bacon... and cooked it in a separate skillet, then I sauteed the onions in the same skillet. Added the bacon, seasoning, and potatoes then cooked until the potatoes were done, then added the onions and clams. Speaking of clams, they were fresh not canned, and the butter used, was Tillamook sweet cream unsalted butter...you know the good stuff:)  The salt used was sea salt, maybe 1/2 tsp, then added more to taste as I was cooking.  The Clams had already been shelled, and cleaned before adding them to the pot.  It was really nice having fresh clam chowder, where there was no sand or gritty stuff in it.

This pot of chowder made a good amount, I'd say 5...pretty good sized bowls.

Are you up to the challenge? Try it out, see what you think? Warning! you may be lavished upon for being such a good cook:) I am thankful to my brother in law, for challenging me to make it...he really didn't give me a choice:) My fear was conquered, and I will be making it again soon:)

P.S. I didn't top with croutons or cheese, feel free if you want to do so:) We did add, a little "Tapatio" to our chowder though:) For those who like a little spice out of life!

picture was provided by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ephemeron/

(below is a video, on how to make fresh clam chowder...from start to finish if you'd like to view:)