New England Clam Chowder

About the beginning of autumn when I start seeing leaves change, I am reminded of a fantastic vacation spent on the coast of Maine.

 A friend and I took a 5 day trip to see the New England leaves, lighthouses, coastline and to eat as much seafood as we could every day. My favorite meal had to be the lobster they pulled right out of the ocean and cooked right there on the dock. It was sooooo tasty.

During that trip, I also made sure to sample everyone's good New England clam chowder. Yum!

 I just HAD to make clam chowder yesterday when it was raining hard (which it also does a lot on the coast of Maine) and brought back all those memories. Here's the best version I have come up with in land-locked Utah (even though we have equally beautiful autumn leaves).

I'm not the kind of girl that has heavy cream just hanging around my house unless I buy it specifically for a recipe a couple times a year. The rest of it tends to go to waste because it doesn't freeze well. I recently discovered a magical thing of UHT shelf-stable whipping cream at Gossners (they also do UHT milk that is great for food storage). I can have it in my pantry and not have to worry about it going bad. I think it tastes just as good, too.


Recipe Ingredients:
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 cup diced onion
1/4 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped potato
1 cup clam juice (can use the juice in the can + bottled kind)
1-2 tsp old bay seasoning (I made my own from a recipe online)
1 1/2 TBSP flour
1 1/2 TBSP margarine
1 1/2 cup milk (I use 1% milk)
1/2 cup cream
1 can clams
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Put garlic, onion, carrot, celery and potato in a soup pot and cover with clam juice. Boil until veggies are soft. Add Old Bay seasoning and set aside in a bowl. Turn heat down to med-low. Melt margarine in pot and stir in flour until it forms a firm paste (roux) like this.

Add milk a little at a time and mix thoroughly into paste until it becomes a smooth, thicker liquid. (cooking it during that process helps to get rid of the flour-y taste). Add veggies and stir to combine. Add in cream and clams and just heat through (don't boil). Add salt and pepper and parsley flakes to garnish.