On our honeymoon we had the most amazing clam chowder at Disneyworld.  We loved it so much we ended up going back to the same restaurant several times and ordering it rapidly became a staple of our trip.

I’ve never had the nerve to try this recipe at home as I thought the whole clams thing would mean it was problematic to duplicate but as it turns out that most recipes call for tinned clams, which most supermarkets now stock I needn’t have worried.

So this weekend we gave it a try and WOW, I’ll be making this again…

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks finely sliced
3 tablespoons plain flour
500ml chicken stock
2x (280g) cans chopped clams in brine
250ml double cream
2 bay leaves
4 large potatoes, cubed
Handful fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method…

• Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat.
• Add the onion & celery and sauté until softened.
• Stir in the flour and mix into the onion & celery.
• Add the stock, brine from 2 cans of chopped clams, cream, bay leaves, & potatoes and stir to combine.
• Bring to a simmer, stirring regularly as it thickens, then reduce the heat to low & cook for 20 minutes, stirring often, until the potatoes are tender.
• Lastly add clams and season to taste with salt and pepper, cook until clams are just firm, another 2 minutes then throw in parsley and serve.

This is amazing with French bread but we love it with the saltine crackers we got in the US.