Last night we had lobster and clam chowder. My dad raked me up a mess of fresh quahogs also known as hard shell clams, little necks or cherry stones. Cherry stones are the smaller quahogs and are usually eaten raw on the half shell. Of course while I was cooking Dad kept cracking cherry stones so I had my share of these little wonders of the sea
Here's my recipe for clam chowder, it was wonderful!
New England Clam Chowder (serves 4)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups ground cooked clams
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced turnip
6 slices bacon cooked crisp and chopped
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup water
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon butter
fresh parsley
Directions
1- Cook the chopped bacon in a a soup pot
2- Remove the bacon and strain the fat
3- Place a tablespoon of bacon fat back into the pot and add the butter
4- Cook all the veggies in the pot over medium heat till fork tender
5- Add the rest of ingredients except the parsley and bring the mixture up to hot but NOT TO A BOIL, boiling will curdle the cream
6- Serve with parsley as a garnish to be eaten after the meal
