New England Clam Chowder Recipe

We will be celebrating the First Sunday of Advent on November 30. Some friends will gather with us at our home, have a small Advent service and eat a meal together. Everyone will most likely bring some dish to share, and I am planning on making my favorite recipe for New England Clam Chowder.  (In case you missed it last week, you can find a list of my favorite Advent resources HERE.)

In the weeks to follow, I'll be posting a few of my favorite Christmas  recipes. These will be repeats for those of you who have read this blog for a while, but I tend to get in a rut enjoy traditional recipes. This recipe for New England Clam Chowder has been a tradition in our family for many years. Now that our family includes more people, however, not all of whom grew up eating clam chowder on Christmas Eve as our own children did, we'll probably have something else for dinner at that time. I understand that not everyone is a fan of clam chowder.

My mom's Christmas dishes

New England Clam Chowder Recipe, my version:

10 slices of hickory-smoked bacon, fried crisp, broken into tiny pieces

Hormel® Natural Choice® ham can be substituted for the bacon. It has no preservatives and is 100 percent natural with no artificial colors or flavors, and no added nitrites or nitrates.

4 small potatoes, skin on, diced
3 small carrots, diced

4 ribs of celery, minced
1 med. onion, minced
1 Carmen red pepper or red bell pepper (sweet), diced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced

3-4 cans of clams. Do not drain. If minced, use as is. If chopt, run through food processor first. This is simply a preference. I don't like big, rubbery hunks of clam. Ew!!!Also, I prefer Gorton's brand.

2 quarts of whole milk
3/4 c. flour

1 bay leaf, broken in pieces
1-2 t. thyme (I used 2 t.)
black pepper
sea salt to taste

Open 3-4 cans of clams, pour all (incl. juice) into saucepan. Add potatoes and carrots and cook til they are just tender, not mushy.

In a skillet, saute celery, onion, peppers in a couple T. butter until tender.

In a separate bowl, whisk flour into a couple cups of the milk. Add remaining milk little by little, whisking as you add so there are no lumps.

Pour all (including the liquid from the potato/carrots/clams) into my large Martha Stewart stainless steel pot which doesn't let anything stick on the bottom. Heat on Low, stirring. Add seasonings.

Bring to near boil, but DON'T BOIL. At this point, you can then cool the chowder and keep refrigerated overnight OR (if you're going to eat in a couple hours,) let sit covered, then bring back to temperature and serve.

A great accompaniment to my clam chowder: popovers   (an old post, but the recipe is still good).

Misty, Christmas 2003

I'm thinking that today might be a good time to get the Christmas tree that will go on the front porch. I like to get a tall balsam. Maybe we'll get another very small, tabletop tree to put in the house. Do you get a large tree? small tree? When do you put up your Christmas tree? What kind of tree do you prefer? Did you eat too much Thanksgiving dinner yesterday?

Front Porch Christmas Tree, December 2013

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lthough I usually forget to do it, there is a chance that this post will be linked to one or more of these great linky parties:  Amaze Me Monday and Inspiration Monday and Mosaic Monday and The Barn Collective and    Treasure Box Tuesday and Vintage Bliss Tuesday and KatheWithAnE and Rubbish Tuesday and Our World Tuesday and Tuesdays at our Home and Tuesday with a Twist and  Knick of Time Tuesday (vintage)  and   Tweak it Tuesday and Vintage Inspiration Wednesday and Ivy and Elephants Wednesday and Adorned From Above  and Artsy Corner Thursday and  All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and Good Fences on Thursdays and  Time Travel Thursday and Freedom Fridays and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Saturday's Critters