Ingredients:

2 cups baby red potatoes, diced medium

4 slices nitrite-free bacon

½ cup Darigold butter

2 cups onions, diced medium

2 cups celery, diced medium

1 tablespoon fresh garlic, diced small

½ cup flour or ½ cup Duke’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend*

 2 tablespoons clam base

1 ½ cups clam juice

1 ½ cups milk

2 ½ cups heavy whipping cream

½ teaspoon fresh organic basil leaves, diced small

1 teaspoon fresh organic thyme, stems removed, diced small

½ teaspoon fresh marjoram, diced small

½ teaspoon black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh organic parsley, stems removed, diced small

1 tablespoon fresh organic dill, stems removed, diced small

1 pound IQF (individually quick frozen) surf clams (all natural)

 

Directions:

–          Blanch potatoes in boiling water until tender. Drain and set aside.

–          In a separate bowl, mix clam base with clam juice until dissolved.

–          Chop bacon (diced medium), and cook in heavy-bottomed saucepan until crispy. Add butter, onions, celery and garlic, and sauté until tender.

–          Then, add flour and stir well to incorporate. This is the roux. Continue stirring and bring mixture to 175 degrees. Then cook for exactly 7 minutes. Do not brown the roux.

–          Add clam base/clam juice mixture to the roux. (Adding it after the roux has cooked prevents roux balls from forming)

–          Add the milk and cream, then add the herbs. Heat until 185 degrees, blending constantly with a wire whisk.

–          Add blanched red potatoes and clams. Simmer at 185 degrees for 2-3 minutes. Turn heat down and hold at 165-175 degrees.

Tip from Chef “Wild” Bill: The Chowder will taste dramatically better when the herbs have bloomed and the flavors have fully developed after simmering for a few hours

* Duke’s Gluten-Free Flour Blend

1 cup tapioca starch

 2 ½ cups white rice flour

 4 cups potato starch

 4 ½ cups sweet white sorghum flour

7 cups brown rice flour

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container.

(c)  2016 by Duke Moscript. All rights reserved. Excerpted from As Wild As It Gets: Duke’s Secret Sustainable Seafood Recipes by permission of Duke Moscript.