Grandma's Clam Chowder

I have been working up my menu for Thanksgiving and i have been pour over recipes. When going through my grandmothers cook book i came across this chowder, it was written on a piece paper that was stuck in the book, but it took me awhile to figure out the recipe since it was written in English, Spanish and a bit of French. It is a new take on the Manhattan clam chowder. Enjoy.

Grandma's Clam Chowder

Ingredients

4 cups of raw clams after they have been cleaned and removed from shells, diced
8 cups of clam juice - when shucking the clams you should get between 6 and 8 cups from them, if not use store bought juice
4 cups heavy cream
2 cups rock shrimp, shelled and cleaned
1 cups andouille sausage, diced
2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
2 cups of diced potatoes
2 onions diced
6 tablespoons butter
4 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

First divide the veggies in half and place into two bowls: this is the onions, carrots celery and potatoes.

In a skillet over medium heat melt 1 tablespoon butter. Next add one of the bowls of veggies and saute them until soft about 6 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, once cool enough to handle, puree them in the food processor and set aside.

In a large soup pot place 1 tablespoon of butter and melt over medium high heat. Add the remaining bowl of veggies to the pot and saute for 5 minutes. Now add the clam juice to the pot and long with the pureed veggies and the tomatoes, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and adding the thyme and the garlic. Simmer for about an hour until the potatoes are soft.

While the soup is simmering place 1 tablespoon of butter in the skillet over medium high heat to melt, next add the diced sausage and saute until brown and crispy.

After the soup has simmer for about an hour add the diced clams and shrimp to the soup, along with the parsley and simmer for an addition 10 to 12 minutes.

Next add the remaining butter, heavy cream and the sausage to the pot and simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, remove the thyme sprigs and serve, garnish with some fresh parsley

Serve with a nice baguette and some brie.

Enjoy Cooking