Reply #12: Hah! Call me a bastid! [View All]

[Rabrrrrrr]

And after Skinner's plea for civility, no less. Oh, the indignity! Oh, the shame! Oh, the politics of personal destruction waged against me!

:ppphhhhhhhhhhhbbbbbbbbbtttttttttttttttttt:

you . . . you . . . you . . . COMMMIE!

Okay, here ya go, cuz you're so awesome. Please note that I don't measure anything, so everything is nebulous.


Fry a couple ounces worth of blanched thick cut bacon in the soup pot.

When cooked and fat has been rendered out, remove bacon and chop it up.

Pour out all but two TBSPs of bacon fat.
Throw a TBSP of butter in the pot.

Put into pot the bacon, plus a few cups of chopped onions, and I like to include some chopped garlic and shallots. I don't know, maybe 5-6 cps worth? Cook the onion mixture for a few minutes until tender and translucent.

Throw in a cup or two of chopped celery, a cup or two of chopped carrots, and two bay leaves. Stir and let these cook for, like, 10 minutes maybe or until they seem sort of, you know, done enough. They don't have to be cooked through to tender, you just want to give them that nice cooked sheen.

Crush up a boatload of crackers - about a half sheath of Ritz crackers. If you have those real sea biscuit things, use those. I actually found some once and used them, and they rock. But I can never find them, so I use Ritz. Pour the crackers into the onion/celery/etc. mixture, and stir up and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add chicken broth.

Bring up the temperature of the soup to boiling.

Toss in enough potatoes to make you think, "That's enough potatoes". I ususally use red potatoes, but used yukon this time. Get yourself a nice tasty potato is all that counts. Dice them up, by the way, into large bite-size chunks. I leave the peels on.

Throw in whatever other vegetables you want: I add corn, peas, and pearl onions. Sometimes green beans. Never okra, and I don't think I'd ever add parsnips, beets, or turnips, either.

Dose liberally with pepper.

Bring to a boil, then let simmer for a couple hours, or whatever time you have. Most important is to make sure the potatoes get cooked.

A few minutes before serving, dump in the clams and their juice. Stir. Then pour in generous helping of cream (I use a mixture of half half&half and heavy cream - one pint of each, and about 3 quarts of broth). Stir it up, heat it up a bit to make sure all is heated through, and then eat it! Serve with crusty, tasty bread, some sandwich meats, some more crackers, butter, and a good beer or wine.

Put pot in fridge when cool. For best results, make one day, serve TWO days later.

(I use frozen clams, though fresh clams in the shells are best, but they are expensive).