Clam And Potato Chowder

Total Time: 44 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 24 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• wine or olive oil
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 1 diced carrot
• 2 cups diced and peeled potatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme (to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper (to taste)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup instant potato flakes
• 2 (6 1/2 ounce) cans minced clams with juice (do not drain)
• 1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke (to taste)
• salt and pepper

Recipe

• 1 i like the veggies for this to be very finely chopped, almost pureed, so i ran the onion, celery and carrot through my food processor first. you can do this if you wish, or else skip this step and use the diced vegetables.
• 2 in a large nonstick saucepan, heat a bit of wine or oil over medium heat. i prefer wine for this.
• 3 add onion, celery and carrot; stir and cook until onion is tender (about 5 minutes).
• 4 add potatoes, water, thyme, pepper and bay leaf. cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes, until potato is softened.
• 5 whisk milk, flour and potato flakes together in a bowl.
• 6 add milk mixture, the clams with their juice, and the liquid smoke to the saucepan. stir and simmer for 2-4 minutes, until soup begins to thicken.
• 7 remove bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.