Bob's Seafood Chowder
Seafood to taste - Bob usually adds about 1 cup canned chopped clams and raw shrimp in bite-size pieces; lobster tail or crab would work too.
Ingredients
- 4 Leek, 3 or 4, white part only, thinly sliced
- 1 cup Onion, Spanish, thinly sliced
- 2 Carrot, roughly grated
- 1 1/2 cup Celery, thinly sliced
- 3 clove Garlic, finely diced
- 8 sprig Thyme, 6 to 8, fresh, tied with string
- 2 Bay leaf
- 1/3 cup Parsley, fresh, chopped
- 1 bunch Green onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup Salt pork, about, small dice
- 2 slice Bacon, cut in small squares
- 5 Russet potatoes, 4 or 5 Idaho, 3/4-inch dice
- 2 tbsp Black pepper, freshly ground, or to taste
- 3 tbsp Butter
- 49 oz Chicken broth, 1 can Swanson
- 2 cup Heavy cream
- 2 tbsp Flour, Wondra works well
- 1 cup Clam, canned chopped clams (seafood to taste)
- Shrimp, raw, bite-size pieces
- Potato flakes, instant mashed, to thicken if needed
Directions
- Brown the bacon in a stockpot until crisp and set aside. Brown the salt pork until it starts to color and set aside with the bacon.
- Add the butter, leeks, onions, celery, carrots and flour and cook until they start to soften. Add the garlic, thyme and bay leaves and cook until wilted, not browned.
- Add the broth, pepper, the bacon and salt pork, and the potatoes. Bring to a soft boil, then simmer until the potatoes are soft.
- Add the cream, parsley, green onions and seafood and simmer 2 to 3 minutes, until the seafood is just cooked - do NOT overcook.
- To thicken, stir in instant mashed potato flakes a few tablespoons at a time. CAREFUL - they take a minute to absorb, and too much turns it to glue.