Clam chowder in sourdough bowls
Chowders served in what the French call ‘en croustade’ are a bit of a speciality in California, though this white chowder would have originated in New England. I have written a few recipes for chowder in my time and as I’m not in the clam capital of the world I have made this with some white fish as well, as otherwise it takes a lot of clams.
Ingredients
- 6 sourdough rolls or crusty rolls (roughly12cm/4½in diameter), tops removed, dough scooped out and discarded
- 1kg/2lb 4oz fresh clams, scrubbed
- 225g/8oz waxy potatoes, peeled and diced into 1.5cm/⅝in cubes
- 40g/1½oz unsalted butter
- 75g/2¾oz smoked streaky bacon, finely chopped
- 1 small onion or banana shallot, finely chopped
- 1 leek, cleaned, halved lengthways and finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
- 30g/1oz plain flour
- 500ml/18fl oz whole milk
- 200ml/7fl oz double cream
- 1 bay leaf
- 200g/7oz cod fillet (or other white fish), skin removed, cut into 2cm/¾in pieces
- 1 tsp salt
- 10 turns black peppermill
- pinch freshly grated nutmeg
- small handful flat-leaf parsley or chives, roughly chopped, to serve
Method
Bring 250ml/9fl oz water to the boil in a large, shallow pan. Add the clams, place a lid on and allow steam for 3 –4 minutes until they open. Set a colander over a large bowl and drain the clams, reserving the cooking liquor. When the clams are cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the shells and set aside.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the potatoes for 5–10 minutes until tender. Drain and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and fry the bacon, onion or shallot, leek and celery until soft. Stir in the plain flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the clam cooking liquor and stir until thickened. Add the milk, cream, bay leaf, potatoes and cod. Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and simmer for 5 minutes until the cod is cooked. Add the clam meat and season with the salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Spoon the chowder into the hollowed-out bread rolls and garnish with chopped parsley or chives.