The Nosh: New England Clam Chowder

This is not the thick lumpy stomach-churning kind you’d find at a chain restaurant. It’s true New England Clam Chowder. Lightened with just a touch of cream, this chowder is comfort in a bowl and the perfect meal to accompany you while you start this next novel.

The Read: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

It Ends with Us is a novel that depicts the horrors that can follow when you use love as an excuse to justify someone’s actions. In this story you’ll follow Lily as she navigates her life around the complexities of an abusive relationship, the one she watched her mom suffer through, and the one she finds herself in as an adult. Through her current relationship she is faced with the reality that her ex-boyfriend (and her first true love) was right: that she is repeating her moms mistakes in love and abuse. It Ends with Us takes place in Boston, the one city where everything is always better, according to her first true love. So naturally of course I had to pair this read with a Boston favorite: New England Clam Chowder.

Ingredients:

• 3 6.5 oz. cans chopped clams in clam juice (strain juice into separate bowl from the clams – we will use both seperately)
• 6 thick turkey-bacon (or bacon of choice) strips, chopped
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 stalks celery, finely chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound red potatoes, diced into 1/4 inch cubes, roughly 3 cups of potato cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1/2 tsp dired oregano
• 1/4 salt
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 cup heavy cream (or cashew cream if dairy free: equal parts raw cashews and water, blended in Vitamix or other high speed blender until creamy and smooth, resembling heavy cream)
• Chives, for garnish
• Traditionally served with oyster crackers

Instructions:

• Prep all ingredients by pre-dicing, pre-chopping and pre-measuring
• In a large stock pot add the bacon pieces, sauté until crispy. Take 1/2 the bacon pieces out and set aside in a bowl to use as additional garnish.
• In stock pot with remaining bacon, add butter, celery and onion. Sauté on medium heat until the onions are soft
• Add in the potatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes, sauté for another minute
• Add in the flour, sauté for one minute to cook out the ‘flour taste’
• Add in the clam juice, chicken stock and spices. Bring to a bowl then reduce to a simmer for 15-20 minutes until the potatoes are soft
• Stir in the cup of heavy cream and clams. Continue to cook for another 5 minutes
• Serve in bowls and garnish with chives, extra bacon and oyster crackers if desired

Recipe adapted from Spend With Pennies