Manhattan Clam Chowder

Manhattan Clam Chowder was likely born near the docks of the Fulton Fish Market whichc lung stubbornly to the Manhattan shoreline in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge.  You can try this for a Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday.

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 cups fish stock
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 (6-oz.) can tomato paste
• 1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes
• 4 (6.5 oz.) cans chopped clams
• 2 pounds littleneck clams, scrubbed
• Salt & freshly ground pepper

METHOD

Heat the butter in your soup pot over medium heat and add the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic, cover, and sweat until very soft.

Add the flour and stir vigorously for the length of time it takes you to sing "The Star Spangled Banner" as quickly as you can. Stir in the stock, potatoes, tomato paste, and the diced tomatoes with their juices and simmer until the potatoes are soft, about 20 minutes.

Add the canned clams, along with their juices, and the littleneck clams and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until the littlenecks open up. Enjoy this chowder served steaming hot.

Serves: 8 to 10

Copied with permission from ©2005 David Ansel, The Soup Peddler's Slow and Difficult Soup, published by Ten Speed Press

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Note: The Fulton Fish market as described above is now a memory, albeit a fragrant one, that it once was on the lower East Side of New York. It has moved to a new, more sanitized home in the Bronx, New York.

Happy Holiday Cooking!

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