so nice i'm posting twice.. friday night clam chowder with crispy clam cakes

clam chowder ranks up there in the top three favorite soups of mine.. tomato being my favorite and i have a easy recipe for it found here.. my second being lobster bisque and my third is clam chowder i've posted it before here but i thought it deserved a second posting.. pete and i will a lot of times choose the restaurant if we like their clam chowder.. once i eat a bowl of it with crusty bread i rarely order the entree.. good thing about clam chowder is it's one of the easiest soup, in my opinion, to make.. and after trying this recipe with it's chunks of potatoes and clams you will think it's pretty darn easy but ohh so good too.. now i got inspired to make clam cakes from diner's drive in's and dives.. i can watch a marathon of that show on a weekend for hours and never get bored.. even if i have seen the episode before, which is likely since i think i have seen them all.. but i always get ideas and inspiration watching it.. and well guy fieri is kinda sexy in a ghetto ridiculous kinda way. he he *wink* so after watching the show i googled clam cakes and the recipe i liked the best came from here.. i switched it up a little bit from watching the show and the result is a light, airy, crispy ball of yumminess.. you would think it's going to be oily or heavy and it's not at all..

clam cakes

prep time: 5 minutes
cooking time: just a few minutes per clam cake
servings: 16 clam cakes (4 per serving)

ingredients:

2 cups ap flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
1/2 cup clam juice
1 can minced clams with juice (pete wanted more of a clam taste after the test batch so i added another can of chopped clams)
1/2 cup milk
oil for frying (the show used lard and well i couldn't do that.. ha i used veggie oil)

sift together the dry ingredients; in a medium mixing bowl whisk your egg and milk.. add clams and juice.. and then dry ingredients a little at a time.. stirring well .. heat your oil when it's hot enough fry the clam cakes by dropping a spoon full of mix into the hot oil.. when it's ready to be flipped it will float to the top.. gently roll over with a wooden spoon and cook the other side.. you want them brown and crispy.. remove from hot oil with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel..

creamy chunky clam chowder

prep time: 10 minutes
cooking time: 30-45 minutes
servings: 6

ingredients:

2 slices of bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
3 stalks of celery, chopped fairly small
7-9 white rose potatoes, chunked up (not to big you want them bite size)
4 cans of clams, drained and juice reserved (i used 2 minced and 2 chopped)
1 bottle of clam juice
4 cups half and half
2 tblsp. cornstarch
salt and pepper
tobasco

take your bottle of clam juice and reserved clam juice and add to a pot and add your potatoes.. if it doesn't cover your taters add water until it does.. cook the potatoes until fork tender.. while they are cooking start your soup, in a heavy bottom pot over medium heat cook your bacon, not until crispy but cooked, about 5 minutes or so.. then add your onions, celery and salt. cook until tender.. another 5 minutes.. your potatoes are probably done about now.. (don't drain them) with a slotted spoon remove 2 cups of the potatoes and 1 cup of the claim juice they were cooked in.. using a food processor (if you have one, if you don't then use a blender or hand mixer or even just a regular hand potato masher will do) cream the potatoes.. add your half and half to the bacon, onion and celery mixture.. then add the creamed potatoes.. then with a slotted spoon remove the remaining potatoes and add to the party .. stir.. now add our clams and salt and pepper.. take 2 tbls. of corn starch and 1/4 of a cup of the clam/potato juice whisk it together and add it to the clam chowder.. crank the heat to high until it starts to thicken about 3-5 minutes stirring.. watch it or the bottom will burn..then turn to low and let it simmer for about a half an hour stiring every now and again.. ladle in to soup bowls add a few dashes of tobasco and then dunk your clam cakes into the soup it's sooo good... this will warm up your innards right quick..

enjoy and get cook'n!!!