Ray's Clam Chowder Recipe

Serves up to 10 as a main course

This creamy clam chowder recipe is adapted from "Ray's Boathouse" cookbook (Documentary Media LLC, 2003). Ray's Boathouse restaurant is an institution here in Seattle - the place everyone went to find  the finest and most delicious Pacific Northwest seafood -- at least back when I first moved here in 1990. As the cookbook says on the very first page: Ray's is not so much a fish house as an Phenomenon.

This recipe is a super simple and reliable clam chowder recipe that is oh so Pacific Northwest.

ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 pound red potatoes - cubes, skin on

1 stalk celery - diced

1/2 white onion - diced

1 carrot - diced

2/3 cup flour

2 cups More Than Gourmet Seafood Stock or clam broth

3 cups heavy cream

2 cups half and half

1/2 teaspoon Papst Worcetershire Sauce

1/4 teaspoon tabasco sauce

1 teaspoon ground Black Tellicherry Peppercorns

1 tablesoon sea salt

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 bay leaf

14 ouces clams - chopped with juice

garnish

2 tablespoons chives - chopped

instructions

1.  Melt butter in a 5-quart stockpot over medium-high heat. Add potatoes, celery, onion and carrot and saute for 5 minutes.

2.  Add flour and stir to make a roux. 

3. Add stock, cream, half-and-half, worchestershire sauce, tabasco sause, pepper, salt, thyme and bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.  Reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender - about 15 to 20 minutes.

4. Stir in clams.

5. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.