Sunday Soup #57: "Contest-Winning" New England Clam Chowder

Being an adult is so inconvenient... One minute you're humming along, happy as a clam, making soup every Sunday and living the dream, and the next there's holidays and birthday parties and vacations, all conspiring to keep you from making yummy dishes in the kitchen.

For my first post back from my hiatus, people on Facebook suggested a New England Clam Chowder and some sort of lentil soup. So, today, New England Clam Chowder (the first one I've ever made!), and then later this week, a lentil soup. That's right... I'm giving you a two-fer this week!

I stumbled across this recipe a bit ago and was eager to find out if "Contest-Winning" was just hyperbole or if this recipe would really be craveable... Let's try it, shall we?

This recipe came from: https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/contest-winning-new-england-clam-chowder?keycode=ZPIN0114SOD

*Pic 1 - https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/contest-winning-new-england-clam-chowder?keycode=ZPIN0114SOD

Variations from Recipe as Written: The recipe called for 3 small potatoes (peeled and cubed), but I used four small unpeeled red potatoes (more on this later). I also used 2 cloves of garlic because... GARLIC!

General Thoughts: As I mentioned, I have never made a clam chowder before. It always seemed like a tough thing to get right... What if I scorched the cream? What if I make it too thick? What if it tasted too clammy? What if it was too bland (or, I made it too spicy)? Well, I am pleased to report, I had none of those problems with this recipe! But, I am getting ahead of myself... First, the prep: it wasn't bad. A bit of chopping on the onion, celery, and potatoes, and that was it. Easy peasy... And most of the ingredients were very "normal," so it was pretty inexpensive to make.

*Pics 2 & 3 - Pictures from when I made it

I was most happy with the consistency of the soup. It was not overly thick, but not too thin either... Goldilocks would have found it to be JUST right! And, while the soup was delightfully dense with ingredients, each bite was well-balanced.

The taste was also very solid. Although there were not a lot of spices in recipe (just a 1/4 tsp each of thyme and white pepper), it was not unbearably bland, as I feared it might be. I like very strong flavors (as you may know, if you regularly read these posts), so after my first bowl, I sprinkled my second with some Old Bay seasoning, black pepper, and a dash of Tabasco, which made it even better, but I would have been happy to keep eating it "as-is" if those enhancers weren't available. And, it had the perfect amount of clam taste... Just enough so I knew I was eating a clam chowder, but not enough to attract the cats from three houses over.

The only thing for which I didn't care was my own fault, really... Instead of using peeled russet potatoes, I used unpeeled red potatoes, which imparted the dish a slightly earthy taste, of which I wasn't a huge fan. 

Potential Improvements? Next time, I'd definitely use peeled potatoes, and probably add a bit of cracked pepper into the pot before serving, but that's it!

Polling the Fam: I am very pleased with how this one turned out, and I will definitely make it again... It was inexpensive, easy to prepare, and very tasty. Hunter added WAY too much Tabasco sauce into his first bowl, but once he could actually feel his tongue again, he really liked it, said it was very good, and went back for thirds. Fox (my historically picky offspring)... LIKED IT! He actually liked it... He went back for seconds. That's how I know this soup was the real deal!

Verdict: Liked it. (4 stars)