Rhode Island Clam Chowdah

[Stinky The Clown]

OhmanOhmanOhmanOhman ....... good ...... easy ..... different ...... scrumptious.

Y'all probably know what New England Chowdah is .... with milk. And Manhahttin Chowder with tamatas.

Y'ever have Rhode Island Chowdah wit' neither?



Equal quantities, by volume: Canned Clams with broth and Canned Clam Broth. (I bought one huge 46 oz can of each)

Cubed spuds

Diced onions.

Diced celery

Olive oil (or bacon grease)

Chopped fresh herbs (I used oregano, basil, and parsley cuz I had some already chopped.)

No salt and no pepper. Definitely no salt.




Sweat down the onions and celery in the fat.

Add the clam broth and bring to a boil

Add the spuds, bring back to a boil, then lower the heat to just above a simmer. Simmer until the spuds are just barely cooked.

Add the herbs.

Add the clams and their broth.

Stir.

Eat with a nice, crusty bread. Dunk freely.

Absotively, posilutely wonnerful. Nuttin' but clams. **Perfect** for an early Fall day.

[zabet]

1. That is what we call

Regular clam chowder here on the coast of NC. :hi:

[grasswire]

2. I have a friend from Providence

She has the most butch accent I've ever heard on an American. It's hilarious.

[Gormy Cuss]

3. New England chowdah is made with library paste (cream + flour).

You know your chowdahs though -- real Northern NE chowdah is made with milk, not cream (that's saved for the bisques and shrimp stew) and is never thickened.

Standard Maine chowdah (at least on the southern coast) is sauteed onions, spuds, clam liquor, a small amount of black pepper brought to a boil and simmered until the spuds are almost cooked. Milk is added in slowly and when heated through, the pan is removed from the heat and the steamers (soft-shell AKA Ipswich clams) are added along with a pat of butter. In the old days the first step was crisping diced salt pork and using that grease for the onions, and the salt pork pieces were added at the table.


Your Rhode Island chowdah is something that I can make on this coast thanks to the canned clams! It sounds very light and tasty.

[eleny]

4. I love this

I like the other kinds, too, but this is my favorite. And I'm keeping your recipe for the next time I shop. 46 oz cans, huh! Must have been at the big store!

[Stinky The Clown]

5. Actually they came from the Sysco outlet store

Sysco is a big, national foodservice supplier. They have this dumpy little retail store in a very dumpy part of town, but the prices are amazing. Not a whole lot of selection and it is mostly all huge sizes (firemen shop there, for example, to feed the fire house).

The clams were 5-something a can and the juice was 2.49. In the Safeway, a tiny little bottle is like 4 bucks.

They also sell pots and pans, knives, trays, odd lot diner style (really thick, white) china, etc.

BJs or Costco often have the big cans of clams.

[eleny]

6. We used to have a Nobel Sysco retail store years ago

My Soopers has lots of large cans of things but not the clams or broth. More like cans of beans and then western favorites like green chile. I ought to ask if they can get the big sizes for this recipe. I'd like to avoid those high priced small cans of clams and tiny bottles of broth.