new england style clam chowder

Have you been watching 'The Delicious Miss Dahl'. My mum gave me her cook book, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights about a year ago and I love it. Recently her complimentary cooking show has started on the Lifestyle Channel and I'm hooked.

She has the most engaging and divine manner that could inspire even the most devout 'non-foodie'. On monday night she cooked 'New England style clam chowder' and last night I recreated it. 


I took a last minute trip to the fish market and picked up some flathead, I then went to the fresh market to pick up some essentials. 

I doubled the recipe as there were five hungry family members involved, but it was super delicious. 


For the chowder you will need;


ingredients
1 Onion, peeled and finely chopped 
2 stick celery, finely chopped
olive oil
knob of butter
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs of thyme
1kg clams (I used white fish as the market did not have clams)
1 husk of fresh corn - kernels sliced off
1/2 litre chicken stock
300g red potatoes - chopped into pieces
100ml single cream
handful of parsley, chopped

for the thyme breadcrumbs
spelt bread (I used left over ciabatta) 
couple sprigs of thyme
olive oil
pancetta slices (if you like) - fried to a crisp 


method

1. Fry the onion and celery in a little olive oil and butter until soft. Add in the bay leaves and a couple of sprigs of thyme
2. While the onion is softening. Heat a pint of water in a large saucepan. When it is simmering throw in the clams, put the lid on and steam for about 3 minutes until all the shells are open
3. Drain off the clams – keep the clam water to one side. Discard any clams that have not opened, pull out the clams from their shells and keep to one side.
4. Add the fresh sweetcorn to the onions
5. Add the drained clam water and the stock to the pan and cook for about 10 minutes to start softening the corn.
6. Add the chopped potatoes to the soup pan and cook until the potatoes are soft but not falling apart.
7. Add the clams into the soup, the cream and the parsley.
8. Leave to cook for a few more minutes – season to taste.
9. While the soup is finishing off – blitz the bread in a food processor so that you have rough breadcrumbs. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, fry the bread with the thyme and season with salt and pepper (in this instance I tore the bread into crumbs and left them large, it added it bit of crunch, which was really nice)
10. Spoon the soup into bowls and sprinkle over the herby crumbs to serve. You can also add a couple of wafer thin slices of crisped pancetta to serve.

This will serve four people. 

We sat outside on the deck and enjoyed a glass of cider with the chowder. 
It was sensational, I'm looking forward to trying another of Sophie's recipes soon!